n. 1. The lord or military governor of a medieval German border province. 2. Used as a hereditary title for certain princes in the Holy Roman Empire. [Probably Middle Dutch marcgrāve : marc, march, border; see merg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + grāve, count (perhaps ultimately from Greek grapheus, scribe; see gerbh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] mar·gravi·al (-grāvē-əl) adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.