This week’s theme
Words formed in error

This week’s words
trialogue
marquee

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(mar-KEE)

MEANING:

noun:	1. A permanent canopy over the entrance of a theater, hotel, etc.
	2. An illuminated sign over the entrance of an entertainment venue, displaying the names of attractions, performers, etc.
	3. A large tent typically having open sides, used for outdoor parties, exhibitions, etc. (British English)
adj.:	Headlining; star; superlative.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French marquise (wife of a marquis), taken as a plural in English and made singular as marquee. Earliest documented use: 1690.

NOTES:

A marquise is the wife of a marquis, a nobleman who ranks below a duke and above an earl.^* English speakers assumed marquise (pronounced mar-KEEZ) was a plural and created a singular: marquee. In the process, a noblewoman lost her “s” and was promoted to a tent.

This kind of misunderstanding made sense in an era when most people were illiterate and language was mainly an oral thing. It’s not clear why marquise came to mean a canopy, though the association with aristocratic splendor likely helped. The word still carries that whiff of luxury: marquise is also the name of a gemstone cut, and marquee now signals star power.

*Why didn’t they make the order of those titles alphabetical? Think of the British schoolkids who may have to memorize (or memorise) them!
Duke
Earl
Frince
Grand duke
Hiking
[i, j, k, l, m left as an exercise for the reader]
Marquis
and so on.

USAGE:

“[Tom] Trbojevic could earn a healthy pay packet as a marquee player.”
Michael Carayannis and Brent Read; Turbo’s UK Shock for Manly; The Daily Telegraph (Surry Hills, Australia); Sep 12, 2025.

See more usage examples of marquee in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: