Mar ‧ quette, Jacques /mɑːˈket $ mɑːr-, ʒæk $ ʒɑːk/ BrE AmE
(1637–75) a French ↑ missionary (=someone who goes to a foreign country to teach people about Christianity), and ↑ explorer in North America. He and Louis Joliet were the first Europeans to discover the ↑ Mississippi River.