Marco Polo

See also: marco polo, marcopolo, and Marcopolo

English

Alternative forms

• (game): marco polo, Marcopolo, marcopolo

Etymology

After Marco Polo (1254–1324), Venetian merchant, whose travels were documented in a book that introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China. The Italian name is from Latin Marcus + Paulus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑɹkoʊ ˈpoʊloʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

Marco Polo (countable and uncountable, plural Marco Polos)

1. (countable) A renowned traveler.
   • 2004, Ross E. Dunn, chapter 1, in The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the fourteenth century‎^[1], page 5:

     Ibn Battuta has inevitably been compared with him and has usually taken second prize as "the Marco Polo of the Muslim world" or "the Marco Polo of the tropics"

   • 2007 March 6, Julie Rutterford, Life on Mars, Season 2, Episode 3:

     Gene Hunt: Come on, then, Marco Polo. Which way?
     Sam Tyler: [consulting a blueprint] It's this way.

2. (uncountable, games) A hunting game—usually played in a swimming pool—where the seeker moves with closed eyes or blindfolded, finding the other players by calling "Marco" and reacting to the other players' replies of "Polo".

   Coordinate terms: Marco, marco, Polo, polo