'Letters of marque' definitions:
Definition of 'letters of marque'
(from WordNet)
noun
A license to a private citizen to seize property of another nation [syn: letter of marque, letters of marque, letter of mark and reprisal]
Definition of 'Letters of marque'
From: GCIDE
- Marque \Marque\, n. [F. marque, in lettre de marque letter of marque, a commission with which the commandant of every armed vessel was obliged to be provided, under penalty of being considered a pirate or corsair; marque here prob. meaning, border, boundary (the letter of marque being a permission to go beyond the border), and of German origin. See March border.] (Law) A license to pass the limits of a jurisdiction, or boundary of a country, for the purpose of making reprisals. [1913 Webster]
- Letters of marque, Letters of marque and reprisal, a license or extraordinary commission granted by a government to a private person to fit out a privateer or armed ship to cruise at sea and make prize of the enemy's ships and merchandise. The ship so commissioned is sometimes called a letter of marque. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'letters of marque'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- aerogram,
- air letter,
- air piracy,
- airgraph,
- airplane hijacking,
- billet-doux,
- buccaneering,
- bull,
- chain letter,
- dead letter,
- dimissorial,
- dimissory letter,
- drop letter,
- encyclical,
- fan letter,
- form letter,
- freebooting,
- letter of credit,
- letter of introduction,
- letters credential,
- letters of request,
- letters overt,
- letters patent,
- letters rogatory,
- love letter,
- monitory,
- newsletter,
- nixie,
- open letter,
- Pastoral Epistle,
- pastoral letter,
- piracy,
- poison-pen letter,
- privateering,
- round robin,
- skyjacking