Word.ws English Dictionary

marco polo

/ˈmɑɹkoʊ ˈpoʊloʊ/

marco polo is the alternative form of Marco Polo.

Noun capitalized: Marco Polo

Marco Polo (countable and uncountable, plural Marco Polos)

  1. (countable) A renowned traveler.
    • Ibn Battuta has inevitably been compared with him and has usually taken second prize as "the Marco Polo of the Muslim world" or "the Marco Polo of the tropics"2004, Ross E. Dunn, chapter 1, in The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the fourteenth century, page 5
    • Gene Hunt: Come on, then, Marco Polo. Which way?
      Sam Tyler: [consulting a blueprint] It's this way.2007 March 6, Julie Rutterford, Life on Mars, Season 2, Episode 3
  2. (uncountable) A hunting game—usually played in a swimming pool—where the seeker moves with closed eyes or blindfolded, finding the other players by calling "Marco" and reacting to the other players' replies of "Polo".

Forms of marco polo

pluralMarco Polos
alternative formmarco polo
alternative formMarcopolo
alternative formmarcopolo

Origin of marco polo

After Marco Polo (1254–1324), Venetian merchant, whose travels were documented in a book that introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China. The Italian name is from Latin Marcus + Paulus.

Questions about marco polo

What does marco polo mean?
Marco polo means a renowned traveler.
What is marco polo the alternative form of?
Marco polo is the alternative form of Marco Polo.
What part of speech is marco polo?
Marco polo is a noun.
How do you pronounce marco polo?
Marco polo is pronounced /ˈmɑɹkoʊ ˈpoʊloʊ/.
What is the plural of marco polo?
The plural of marco polo is Marco Polos.

Words near marco polo in the dictionary

  1. Marcionitism
  2. Marcius
  3. MARCKS
  4. marco
  5. Marco Island
  6. marco polo
  7. Marco Polo sheep
  8. Marco Polos
  9. Marcobrunner
  10. Marcobrunners
  11. Marcola

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: marco polo (page history and authors); Marco Polo (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-marco polo.ogg.

Cite this entry: “marco polo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/marco_polo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.