duce
noun
a leader or dictator.
duce
American
[doo-chey, doo-che]
/ ˈdu tʃeɪ, ˈdu tʃɛ /
noun
-
duces,
plural
-
duci
plural
-
a leader or dictator.
-
il Duce the leader: applied especially to Benito Mussolini as head of the fascist Italian state.
Duce
1
British
/ ˈduːtʃe /
noun
duce
2
British
/ ˈduːtʃɪ, ˈduːtʃe /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of duce
First recorded in 1920–25; from Italian, from Medieval Latin dux (genitive ducis ), Latin: “leader”; cf. duke, dux
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Vietnamese politely took what they were offered, but within twenty-four hours the complaints started coming back—the “American soap … didn’t pro- duce suds or clean properly.”
From MSNBC ● Jan. 9, 2018
On the average, each mailing nets less than a 2% response, but that is enough to pro duce $30 billion in mail sales.
From Time Magazine Archive
He has urged the Government to rely less on new laws and massive programs and more on subsidies, taxes and other incentives that might in duce private industry to solve problems like pollution and unemployment.
From Time Magazine Archive
West Germany could have been a powder keg to pro duce chaos . . . and the freedom-loving people of the world owe Adenauer a great deal.
From Time Magazine Archive
Whitfield, the great English evangelist, then in New England, had given them a motto—Nil desperandum Christo duce.
From The Conquest of New France A chronicle of the colonial wars by George McKinnon Wrong
And when the Italian Azzurri lifted the trophy in Rome, a second trophy waited for them: the Coppa del Duce, commissioned by Mussolini, six times the size of the real one.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
The Coppa del Duce, more than 90 years on, comes shaped like a golden ticket.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Of four documented assassination attempts on Il Duce, Violet came the closest.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
Duce went on to appear in an episode of Running Wild, Brooks's next big hit - where he switched channels to ITV for a sitcom about a former Teddy Boy going through a mid-life crisis.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2025
A Duce of his Cane, there's no trusting to Age—what shall I do to Relieve Charles!
From The Busie Body by Jess Byrd
She also pro- duces food and spirit events across the country.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
In the lead-up to trial, Burr, taking aim at his accusers, moved for a subpoena duces tecum directed at Jefferson.
From Reuters ● Jul. 9, 2020
The second contention is that if he does not prevail on the claim of absolute privilege, the court should hold as a matter of constitutional law that the privilege prevails over the subpoena duces tecum.
From MSNBC ● Jul. 22, 2015
Enforcement of a pretrial subpoena duces tecum must necessarily be committed to the sound discretion of the trial court since the necessity for the subpoena most often turns upon a determination of factual issues.
From MSNBC ● Jul. 22, 2015
With this end in view, Burr moved on the 9th of June that a subpoena duces tecum issue to Jefferson requiring him to produce certain papers, including the famous cipher letter to Wilkinson.
From John Marshall and the Constitution; a chronicle of the Supreme court by Edward Samuel Corwin
A life of innocence was regarded as a life of ill-nature —Innocentia pro malivolentiâ duci caepit.
From Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War by John Selby Watson
The gold medal for General Gates represents the head of that general, with this legend: horatio gates, duci strenuo, comitia americana.
From The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart
The gold medal of General Greene represents the head of that general, with this legend: nathanieli green, egregio duci, comitia americana.
From The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart
In the Latyne stemme of Chawcer you saye, speakinge of Katherine Swyneforde, Que postea nupta Johanni Gandauensi tertij Edwardi Regis filio, Lancastriæ duci, illi procreavit filios tres et vnicam filiam.
From Animaduersions uppon the annotacions and corrections of some imperfections of impressiones of Chaucer's workes 1865 edition by G. H. (George Henry) Kingsley
In Sicily a thousand endearing epithets are applied to the Infant Saviour: "figghiu duci," "Gesiuzzi beddu," "Gesiuzzi picchiureddi."
From Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs (1886) by Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
