duce

[doo-chey; Italian doo-che]

noun, plural du·ces, du·ci

[doo-chee] /ˈdu tʃi/.

a leader or dictator.
il Duce, the leader: applied especially to Benito Mussolini as head of the fascist Italian state.

Origin of duce

1920–25; < Italian < Medieval Latin dux (genitive ducis), Latin: leader; cf. duke, dux

il Duce

[eel doo-chey; Italian eel doo-che]

noun

duce(def 2).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for duce

Contemporary Examples of duce

Banners with “Muslims go home” and “Long Live Il Duce,” in a reference to Benito Mussolini, lie crumpled along the streets.
In Rome’s Riots, Cries for Mussolini and Attacks on Refugees
Barbie Latza Nadeau
November 14, 2014

Historical Examples of duce

Be pure to be strong,' Il Duce has taught our people this wonderful lesson.
Little Tony of Italy
Madeline Brandeis
Who th' duce does ta think can be bilious in a country like this?
Seets I' Paris
John Hartley
I was going to 'duce 'Ilip to the Tommodore and 'Ilip was going to 'duce me.
Toots and his Friends
Kate Tannatt Woods
The other face bears the lines of Juvenal: 'Expende—quot libras in duce summo (p. 031) invenies?
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume V (of 10)
John Gibson Lockhart
The day the debate in the Lords ended, that in the Commons began on the same question, duce Cobden.
The Greville Memoirs (Third Part) Volume II (of II)
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville

British Dictionary definitions for duce

duce

noun

leader

Word Origin for duce

C20: from Italian, from Latin dux

Duce

noun

Il Duce (il) the title assumed by Benito Mussolini as leader of Fascist Italy (1922–43)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for duce

Duce

1923, title assumed by Benito Mussolini (1883-1945); Italian, literally "leader," from Latin ducem (see duke (n.)).