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Webster 1913 Edition

Duke

Duke

(dūk)
,
Noun.
[F.
duc
, fr. L.
dux
,
ducis
, leader, commander, fr.
ducere
to lead; akin to AS.
teón
to draw; cf. AS.
heretoga
(
here
army) an army leader, general, G.
herzog
duke. See
Tue
, and cf.
Doge
,
Duchess
,
Ducat
,
Duct
,
Adduce
,
Deduct
.]
1.
A leader; a chief; a prince.
[Obs.]
Hannibal,
duke
of Carthage.
Sir T. Elyot.
All were
dukes
once, who were “duces” – captains or leaders of their people.
Trench.
2.
In England, one of the highest order of nobility after princes and princesses of the royal blood and the four archbishops of England and Ireland.
3.
In some European countries, a sovereign prince, without the title of king.
Duke’s coronet
.
See Illust. of
Coronet
.
–
To dine with Duke Humphrey
,
to go without dinner. See under
Dine
.

Duke

(dūk)
Verb.
I.
To play the duke.
[Poetic]
Lord Angelo
dukes
it well in his absence.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Duke

DUKE

,
Noun.
[G., L, to lead; to draw, to tug. Gr.]
1.
In Great Britain, one of the highest order of nobility; a title of honor or nobility next below the princes; as the Duke of Bedford or of Cornwall.
2.
In some countries on the Continent, a sovereign prince, without the title of king; as the Duke of Holstein, of Savoy, of Parma, &c.
3.
A chief; a prince; as the dukes of Edom. Genesis 36.

Definition 2024

Duke

Duke

See also: duke and dûke

English

Proper noun

Duke

  1. The title of a duke.
  2. A male given name; mostly US and rather rare.
  3. A private university in North Carolina.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: scarcely · Paris · expression · #734: Duke · battle · bound · York

duke

duke

See also: Duke and dûke

English

Noun

duke ‎(plural dukes)

  1. The male ruler of a duchy (female equivalent: duchess).
  2. The sovereign of a small state.
  3. A high title of nobility; the male holder of a dukedom.
  4. A grand duke.
  5. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A fist.
    Put up your dukes!

Hypernyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

duke ‎(third-person singular simple present dukes, present participle duking, simple past and past participle duked)

  1. (transitive) To hit or beat with the fists.
    • 2003, John A. Dinan, Private Eyes in the Comics, ISBN 159393002X, page 65:
      It seems that PI Rainer was duked by his wife […] .
  2. (slang, transitive) To give cash to; to give a tip to.
    I duked him twenty dollars.

Derived terms

Albanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈdukɛ]

Particle

duke

  1. A particle which precedes a participle to form an gerundive adverbial phrase.
    duke kënduar — (while) singing, by singing

Scots

Verb

duke ‎(third-person singular present dukes, present participle dukin, past dukit, past participle dukit)

  1. to cut into a queue, without permission (intransitive); to cut into a queue in front of someone (transitive)
    "Oi, dinnae duke us!"

Etymology

Borrowing from Old French duc, from Latin dux, ducis. Displaced native Old English heretoga. Was present as duc in late Old English, from the same Latin source. Doublet of dux.

The 'fist' sense is thought to be Cockney rhyming slang where Duke(s) of York = fork. Fork is itself cockney slang for hand, and thus fist.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /djuːk/, /dʒuːk/
  • (US) IPA(key): /duːk/
  • Rhymes: -uːk

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