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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Letters of marque

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.

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.

WordNet
letters of marque

n. a license to a private citizen to seize property of another nation [syn: letter of marque, letter of mark and reprisal]

Usage examples of "letters of marque".

The Sultan has issued Letters of Marque to ships who wish to join his forces.

But they had never studied the legal ramifications of letters of marque, she was sure.

A full purse is the best ballast for any man-ship, especially one bearing letters of marque against ladies.

In preparation for this venture he obtained letters of marque from the governor of Jamaica, by virtue of which elastic commission he began immediately to gather around him all material necessary for the undertaking.

Legally, with my present letters of marque, I can take her as a prize and I can sail her to any port and sell her and her cargo.

I have sailed in a privateer at least three years, and I know that they have no respect for letters of marque or for privateers.

They were being issued by insurgent and nationalist governments alike, to prey upon ships flying the old flags and the new, and the bearers of letters of marque turned pirates in the twinkling of an eye in the absence of legitimate prizes and efficient prize courts.