margrave
/ˈmɑːɡɹeɪv/US/ˈmɑɹɡɹeɪv/
margrave noun: a feudal era military-administrative officer of comital rank in the Carolingian empire and some successor states, originally in charge of a border area.
Noun
margrave (plural margraves)
- A feudal era military-administrative officer of comital rank in the Carolingian empire and some successor states, originally in charge of a border area.
- 1973: Among pulverised heads of stone margraves and electors, reconnoitering a likely-looking cabbage patch, all of a sudden Slothrop picks up the scent of an unmistakable no it can’t be yes it is it’s a REEFER! — Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow
- A hereditary ruling prince in certain feudal states of the Holy Roman Empire and elsewhere; the titular equivalent became known as marquis or marquess.
- The Margrave of Bruges was their head.1516, Thomas More, chapter 1, in Utopia
Proper noun capitalized: Margrave
Margrave
- A surname.
margrave meaning in Tamil, Persian and Thai
margrave in Tamil
- எல்லைப் புற மாகாணத் தலைவர்
margrave in Persian
- military officer in charge of German border area
- مرزبان marzbân
- hereditary prince
- مرزبان marzbân
margrave in Thai
- military officer in charge of German border area
- มาร์เกรฟ
- hereditary prince
- มาร์เกรฟ
Forms of margrave
| plural | margraves |
|---|---|
| alternative form | margraf |
| alternative form | markgraf |
| alternative form | markgrave |
Origin of margrave
From Middle Dutch marcgrāve (modern Dutch markgraaf), cognate with Old High German marcgrāvo (modern German Markgraf), from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marker”) + *grafa (“military rank”), from Latin graphio. More at mark, graft. Compare marchion, marquis, landgrave.
Words formed from margrave
Questions about margrave
- What does margrave mean?
- Margrave means a feudal era military-administrative officer of comital rank in the Carolingian empire and some successor states, originally in charge of a border area.
- What is margrave in Tamil?
- Margrave in Tamil is எல்லைப் புற மாகாணத் தலைவர். See Margrave meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is margrave?
- Margrave can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce margrave?
- Margrave is pronounced /ˈmɑːɡɹeɪv/ (UK).
- What is the plural of margrave?
- The plural of margrave is margraves.
Words near margrave in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: margrave (page history and authors); Margrave (page history and authors); margrave (Tamil Wiktionary) (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-margrave.wav.
Cite this entry: “margrave.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/margrave. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.