duke
[dook, dyook]
- (in Continental Europe) the male ruler of a duchy; the sovereign of a small state.
- a British nobleman holding the highest hereditary title outside the royal family, ranking immediately below a prince and above a marquis; a member of the highest rank of the British peerage.
- a nobleman of corresponding rank in certain other countries.
- a cultivated hybrid of the sweet and sour cherry.
- dukes, Slang. fists; hands: Put up your dukes.
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- Slang. to hit or thrash with the fists (sometimes followed by out): He duked me because he said I had insulted him. The bully said he was going to duke out anyone who disagreed.
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- duke it out, to fight, especially with the fists; do battle: The adversaries were prepared to duke it out in the alley.
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Origin of duke
1100–50; Middle English duke, duc, late Old English duc < Old French duc, dus, dux < Medieval Latin dux hereditary ruler of a small state, Latin: leader; see dux; dukes “fists” of unclear derivation and perhaps of distinct orig.
Duke
[dook, dyook]
- Benjamin Newton,1855–1929, and his brother, James Buchanan, 1856–1925, U.S. industrialists.
- a male given name.
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Wayne
[weyn]
- AnthonyMad Anthony, 1745–96, American Revolutionary War general.
- JohnMarion Michael MorrisonDuke, 1907–79, U.S. film actor.
- a township in N New Jersey.
- a city in SE Michigan, near Detroit.
- a male given name: from an Old English word meaning “wagonmaker.”
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Ellington
[el-ing-tuh n]
- Edward KennedyDuke, 1899–1974, U.S. jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and conductor.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
aristocratkingmonarchemperorczarsultanshahpatricianslugcountgentlemanroyaltypeerlordladyprinceempressdukearchduchessarchdukeExamples from the Web for duke
Contemporary Examples
Duke was a state representative whose neo-Nazi alliances were disgorged in media reports during his run for governor in 1991.
Scalise never would have spoken to EURO had Duke been there in person.
But after winning 55 percent of the white vote, Duke had a database of supporters some politicians coveted.
The “doctorate” Duke claims is from an anti-Semitic Ukranian “diploma mill” as described by the State Department.
“I did not contribute to him, he did not contribute to me,” Duke said.
Historical Examples
The Duke wanted a capable candidate to help him regain his ascendency.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
He came recommended by no claim in the world except the will of the Duke.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
Shakespeare was almost as well content, it appears, to play the lover as to play the Duke.
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
Not only the Duke, but both the heroines, Viola and Olivia, love music.
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
The tidings reached the Duke, at his hunting-lodge of Valognes.
Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward IICharlotte Mary Yonge
duke
- a nobleman of high rank: in the British Isles standing above the other grades of the nobility
- the prince or ruler of a small principality or duchy
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Word Origin
C12: from Old French duc, from Latin dux leader
Ellington
- Duke, nickname of Edward Kennedy Ellington. 1899–1974, US jazz composer, pianist, and conductor, famous for such works as "Mood Indigo" and "Creole Love Call"
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Wayne
- John, real name Marion Michael Morrison. 1907–79, US film actor, noted esp for his many Westerns, which include Stagecoach (1939), The Alamo (1960), and True Grit (1969), for which he won an Oscar
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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 duke
n.
early 12c., "sovereign prince," from Old French duc (12c.) and directly from Latin dux (genitive ducis) "leader, commander," in Late Latin "governor of a province," from ducere "to lead," from PIE *deuk- "to lead" (cf. Old English togian "to pull, drag," Old High German ziohan "to pull," Old English togian "to draw, drag," Middle Welsh dygaf "I draw").
Applied in English to "nobleman of the highest rank" probably first mid-14c., ousting native earl. Also used to translate various European titles (e.g. Russian knyaz).
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Wayne
surname, by 1319, variant of Wain, representing wainwright, wainer (see wain) or perhaps "one who dwells by the tavern with the sign of the wain."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper