n. pl. mar·che·si (-zē) 1. An Italian nobleman ranking above a count and below a prince. 2. Used as the title for such a nobleman. [Italian, from Medieval Latin (comēs) marcēnsis, (count) of the border, from marca, border region, of Germanic origin; see merg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.