Adjacent Words

Duke definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DUKE, n. [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, etc.
3. A chief; a prince; as the dukes of Edom. Genesis 36.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a British peer of the highest rank
2: a nobleman (in various countries) of high rank

Merriam Webster's

biographical name Benjamin Newton 1855-1929 & his brother James Buchanan 1856-1925 American tobacco industrialists

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French duc, from Latin duc-, dux, from ducere to lead — more at tow Date: 12th century 1. a sovereign male ruler of a continental European duchy 2. a nobleman of the highest hereditary rank; especially a member of the highest grade of the British peerage 3. [probably from dukes of York, rhyming slang for fork (hand, fist)] slang fist, hand — usually used in plural • dukedom noun II. intransitive verb (duked; duking) Date: circa 1947 fight

Britannica Concise

European title of nobility, the highest rank below a prince or king except in countries having such titles as archduke or grand duke. The wife of a duke is a duchess. The Romans gave the title dux to high military commanders with territorial responsibilities. It was adopted by the barbarian invaders of the Roman empire and was used in their kingdoms and also in France and Germany for rulers of very large areas. In some European countries a duke is a sovereign prince who rules an independent duchy. In Britain, where there were no ducal titles until 1337, it is a hereditary title.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (as a title usu. Duke) 1 a a person holding the highest hereditary title of the nobility. b a sovereign prince ruling a duchy or small State. 2 (usu. in pl.) sl. the hand; the fist (put up your dukes!). 3 Bot. a kind of cherry, neither very sweet nor very sour. Phrases and idioms: royal duke a duke who is also a royal prince. Etymology: ME f. OF duc f. L dux ducis leader

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Duke Duken. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. te['o]n 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Duke Duke, v. i. To play the duke. [Poetic] Lord Angelo dukes it well in his absence. -- Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dukes) A duke is a man with a very high social rank. ...the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. N-COUNT: oft the N of n

Easton's Bible Dictionary

derived from the Latin dux, meaning "a leader;" Arabic, "a sheik." This word is used to denote the phylarch or chief of a tribe (Gen. 36:15-43; Ex. 15:15; 1 Chr. 1:51-54).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

duk: The rendering in the King James Version in Ge 36:15 ff; Ex 15:15, and 1Ch 1:51 ff of 'alluph (the American Standard Revised Version and the English Revised Version, margin "chief"), and in Jos 13:21 of necikhim ("dukes," the Revised Version (British and American) "princes"). It occurs also, as the rendering of strategos, in 1 Macc 10:65 (the Revised Version (British and American) "captain"). Elsewhere necikhim is translated "princes" or "principal men." The fact that with two exceptions the term is applied in English Versions of the Bible only to the chiefs of Edom has led to the impression that in the family of Esau the chiefs bore a special and hereditary title. But 'alluph was a general term for tribal chief or prince (compare Zec 9:7; 12:5,6; the Revised Version (British and American) "chieftains," the King James Version "governors").

Moreover, at the time the King James Version was made the word "duke" was not used as a title in England: the term had the same general force as dux, the word employed in the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A. D.) So Sir T. Elyot (died 1546) speaks of "Hannibal, duke of Carthage" ( The Governor, II, 233); Shakespeare, Henry V, III, 2, 20, "Be merciful, great duke, to men of mould" (compare Midsummer Night's Dream, I, 1, 21); Sylvester (1591) Du Bartas, "The great Duke, that in dreadful aw upon Mt. Horeb learned the eternal law." In a still earlier age Wycliff uses the word of the Messiah (Mt 2:6); and in Select Works, III, 137, "Jesus Christ, duke of oure batel."

Yet in all probability the Hebrew word was more specific than "chief" or "duke" in the broad sense. For if 'alluph is derived from 'eleph, "thousand," "tribe," the term would mean the leader of a clan, a "chiliarch" (compare Septuagint, Zec 9:7; 12:5,6). the American Standard Revised Version has eliminated the word "duke." See CHIEF.

J. R. Van Pelt

Moby Thesaurus

Brahman, archduke, aristocrat, armiger, baron, baronet, blue blood, count, daimio, earl, esquire, gentleman, grand duke, grandee, hidalgo, lace-curtain, laird, landgrave, lord, lordling, magnate, magnifico, margrave, marquis, noble, nobleman, optimate, palsgrave, patrician, peer, seigneur, seignior, silk-stocking, squire, swell, thoroughbred, upper-cruster, viscount, waldgrave