Meaning

noun the military governor of a frontier province in medieval Germany

noun a German nobleman ranking above a count (corresponding in rank to a British marquess)

originFrom Middle Dutch marcgrāve (modern Dutch markgraaf), cognate with Old High German marcgrāvo (modern German Markgraf), from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marker”) + *grafa (“military rank”), from Latin graphio. More at mark, graft. Compare marchion, marquis, landgrave.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0