society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > ship's papers > [noun] > letters authorizing privateer (2)
letter of marque n. Usually in plural. Also more fully letter(s) of marque and reprisal. Originally: a licence granted by a monarch authorizing a…
letter (also script, writ) of mart n. a government licence authorizing the holder to take reprisals on citizens of a hostile state; (later also) a…