the.com/marquee
The sign that promises you'll have the time of your life, outside the building that may not deliver.
means An adjective meaning top-billed or headline-worthy, or the noun for the big sheltering sign (or tent) that announces who's starring and where to stand in line.
from From French marquise, the awning-like structure built over an officer's tent or a grand entrance — itself likely tied to marquis (the noble title), as these grand canopies suggested rank and prominence. English borrowed it for theater entrance canopies in the 1900s, and from there the big-top tent sense and the 'headline attraction' sense both grew — the name jumped from the shelter to the stars it sheltered.
- origin
- from French tent for royalty, marquise
- adjective use
- marquee now means headline-worthy, as in value
- typography flashback
- html's blinking marquee tag, mercifully deprecated
- bulb math
- old theater marquees used thousands of chase lights