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marquee

 - 3 dictionary results

mar⋅quee

  [mahr-kee]
Use marquee in a Sentence
–noun
1. a tall rooflike projection above a theater entrance, usually containing the name of a currently featured play or film and its stars.
2. a rooflike shelter, as of glass, projecting above an outer door and over a sidewalk or a terrace.
3. Also, marquess, marquise. British. a large tent or tentlike shelter with open sides, esp. one for temporary use in outdoor entertainments, receptions, etc.
–adjective
4. superlative; headlining: a marquee basketball player.
Origin:
1680–90; assumed sing. of marquise, taken as pl.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mar·quee   (mär-kē')   
n.  

  1. A large tent, often with open sides, used chiefly for outdoor entertainment.

  2. A rooflike structure, often bearing a signboard, projecting over an entrance, as to a theater or hotel. Also called marquise.

adj.  Being an athlete of exceptional skill and popularity: The team is hoping to sign a marquee player.

[French marquise, marquise, marquee; see marquise.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

marquee 
1690, "large tent," from Fr. marquise (mistaken in Eng. as a plural) "linen canopy placed over an officer's tent to distinguish it from others'," lit. fem. of marquis, perhaps indicating "a place suitable for a marquis." Sense of "canopy over the entrance to a hotel or theater, etc." first recorded 1934 in Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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