duke

CEFRB2

/dʒuːk/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A man with a very high British noble title.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A high title of nobility; the male holder of a dukedom.

Examples

  • The duke holds a lot of land.

  • The painting portrays the duke’s third wife.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • /djuːk/
  • /duːk/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The sovereign of a small state.

  2. The male ruler of a duchy (female equivalent: duchess).

  3. A grand duke.

More examples

In context

  • This only increased his desire to be revenged on the murderous duke.

  • I duked him twenty dollars.

  • Put up your dukes!

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The wealthy blank owned a large castle in the countryside.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Old French duc, through Middle English duk, duke, from Latin dux, ducis. Displaced native Old English heretoga. Was present as duc in late Old English, from the same Latin source. Doublet of doge, duc, duce, and dux. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-, which is also the source of the second component in German Herzog. 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.