marquee

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from French marquise (“a canopy over a tent”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} whose final /z/ sound was taken in English as the plural ending -s, so that a new singular was made, with its ending assimilated to -ee.^[2][3][6][7] The OED notes that the French word is apparently not recorded in this sense until 1718;^[2] Etymonline and Barnhart describe it as a linen canopy placed over an officer's tent to set it apart from the others.^[5][4] The French word meant marchioness, the feminine of marquis, and was used of things thought splendid or elegant;^[3][2] Weekley takes the tent as one suited to a noble lady,^[8] and Partridge suggests it was at first an aristocratic, large and handsome tent.^[9] Marquis is marchis (“ruler of a border area”), from marche (“frontier”), from Medieval Latin marca (“frontier, frontier territory”).^[5][6] An older spelling was markee.^[6][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large tent, at first an officer's field tent: 1690, in the London Gazette.^[2][4][10] Etymonline dates the word to the 1680s, for a large tent of unusual elaborateness.^[5]

Semantic evolution

By 1812 the word was also used of large temporary wooden structures put up for a concert or a dinner party,^[5] and today a marquee is usually a tent for social or commercial events, the officer's tent being obsolete.^[2] In American English it came to mean a canopy over the entrance of a hotel or theatre, by 1912 according to Etymonline;^[5] the OED's first record is from 1926^[2] and Barnhart's from 1934;^[4] Barnhart takes this sense as a new borrowing of French marquise, a glass canopy (1867).^[4] Because the names of a show's stars were billed on the theatre marquee, the word became an adjective for a big name with drawing power, from 1946.^[10][7][11]

Timeline

• 1690 – a large tent, at first an officer's field tent.^[2][4][10] Etymonline dates the word to the 1680s.^[5]
• 1812 – a large temporary wooden structure for an event.^[5]
• 1912 – in American English, a canopy over the entrance of a hotel or theatre.^[5] The OED's first record is from 1926, Barnhart's from 1934.^[2][4]
• 1946 – adjective, famous and able to draw crowds.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large tent put up for a party, reception or exhibition: Lunch was served in a marquee on the lawn.^[12][10][2]
2. (chiefly US) A canopy over the entrance of a theatre, cinema or hotel, often showing the names of the film or show and its stars.^[12][10][2]
3. (obsolete) A large field tent for a high-ranking officer.^[2][10]

Adjective

1. (chiefly US) Famous and able to draw an audience; big-name, star: The festival booked two marquee acts.^[12][10][7]

Related words

• marquise
• marquis
• marquess
• marchioness
• march

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins