Margraves

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A noble title historically given to a ruler or lord governing a border territory or march
2. An individual in charge of protecting and administering a frontier region
3. A rank in the nobility associated with jurisdiction over a specific area adjacent to a kingdom or empire

Etymology: Margraves are the holders of a title whose name is built from two Germanic parts: "marc", meaning boundary or border, and "grave", a military rank, the source of the modern German "Graf" (count). Together they describe an official charged with guarding a frontier. The title is cognate with the Old High German "marcgrāvo" and the Middle Dutch "marcgrāve", which show the same construction across the Germanic-speaking lands. The word "margrave" has the same root as "mark", as in a boundary territory, and as in "graft", which shares the Germanic base of "grave". Its close relatives in other languages include "marquis" and "landgrave", titles built on the same idea of a frontier official, which show how the concept of border-keeping spread through medieval European nobility. Plural "margraves" is simply the form used when referring to more than one holder of this title.

Synonyms: margrave, noble