Word.ws English Dictionary

letter of marque

letter of marque noun: an official commission from a government authorizing someone to seize the property or people of another nation; especially to attack merchant shipping of another nation.

Noun

letter of marque (plural letters of marque)

  1. (historical) An official commission from a government authorizing someone to seize the property or people of another nation; especially to attack merchant shipping of another nation.
    • A letter of marque came from the King / to the scummiest vessel I'd ever seen / God damn them all! I was told / We'd cruise the seas for American gold / We'd fire no guns, shed no tears.1976, Stan Rogers, “Barrett's Privateers”, in Fogarty's Cove
  2. (historical) A ship that has been armed for such a task.

Synonyms of letter of marque

Forms of letter of marque

pluralletters of marque
alternative formletter of mart

Questions about letter of marque

What does letter of marque mean?
Letter of marque means an official commission from a government authorizing someone to seize the property or people of another nation; especially to attack merchant shipping of another nation.
What part of speech is letter of marque?
Letter of marque is a noun.
What is the plural of letter of marque?
The plural of letter of marque is letters of marque.

Words near letter of marque in the dictionary

  1. letter of indemnity
  2. letter of intent
  3. letter of introduction
  4. Letter of Jeremiah
  5. letter of last resort
  6. letter of marque
  7. letter of marque and reprisal
  8. letter of mart
  9. letter of motivation
  10. letter of recall
  11. letter of recommendation

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: letter of marque (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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