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drake

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drake¹

  • /ˈdɹeɪ̯k/
  • [ˈdɹ̝ʷeɪ̯k] ~ [ˈd̠ɹ̠˔ʷeɪ̯k]

Rhymes with -eɪk

Where it comes from

From Middle English drake (“male duck, drake”), either from Old English *draca, *andraca (“male duck, drake”) or from Middle Low German drâke, andrâke, from Proto-West Germanic *anadrekō (“drake”, literally “duck leader”). Cognate with Low German drake (“drake”), Dutch draak (“drake”), German Enterich (“drake”). More at annet.

noun drakes

  1. A male duck (bird). A drake belonging to a chemist, having drunk water out of a copper vessel which had contained phosphorous, continued its amorous activities until death.

drake²

  • /ˈdɹeɪ̯k/
  • [ˈdɹ̝ʷeɪ̯k] ~ [ˈd̠ɹ̠˔ʷeɪ̯k]

Rhymes with -eɪk

Where it comes from

From Middle English drake (“dragon; Satan”), from Old English draca (“dragon, sea monster, huge serpent”), from Proto-West Germanic *drakō (“dragon”), from Latin dracō (“dragon”), from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “serpent, giant seafish”), from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “to see clearly”). Compare Middle Dutch drake and German Drache. Doublet of Draco, Dracon, dracone, dragon, and dragoon.

noun drakes

  1. archaic, poetic A dragon. Clay caught sight of the drake's wing outlined against the rising flames as it swept low over the desert.
  2. archaic, poetic, not universal A lesser draconic creature.
  3. A beaked galley, or Viking warship.

    Similar: dragon, dragonship

  4. historical A small piece of artillery. Two or three shots, made at them by a couple of drakes, made them stagger.
  5. abbreviation, archaic Short for firedrake (“a fiery meteor”). The moon’s my constant Mistresse & the lowlie owle my morrowe. The flaming Drake and yͤ Nightcrowe make
  6. abbreviation, archaic Short for drakefly (“a mayfly”).
  7. archaic A mayfly used as fishing bait.

Drake³

  • /dɹeɪk/

Rhymes with -eɪk

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, from both senses of the noun drake meaning "male duck" and "dragon."

* As a German surname, from Low German drake (“dragon”), related to the above.

* As a Dutch surname, Americanized/West Flemish variant of Draak, also related to the above.

proper noun

  1. An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a byname from Old English draca or Old Norse draki, both meaning “dragon”.
  2. Francis Drake (1540-1596), English sea captain, pirate, and explorer of the Elizabethan era.
  3. An Irish surname, anglicized from Drach, itself a Hiberno-Norman name English Drake.
  4. A male given name transferred from the surname. Drake was not at all what I'd anticipated. His macho soap opera name had put me in mind of aristocrats or oversexed mallards.
  5. A locality in the Tenterfield council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
  6. A village in Saskatchewan, Canada.
  7. A ward of Plymouth, Devon, England; named for aqueduct Drake's Leat, itself for Francis Drake, Mayor of Plymouth at the time of its construction.
  8. A city in North Dakota; named for early settler Herman Drake.
  9. An unincorporated community in Yavapai County, Arizona.
  10. An unincorporated community in Colorado.
  11. An unincorporated community in Illinois.
  12. An unincorporated community in Kentucky.
  13. An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for Missouri statesman Charles D. Drake.
  14. An unincorporated community in South Carolina.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: pintail, teal, deli, honor, honour, derek, gregg, mallard, anatine, waterfowl, wigeon, shoveler, gadwall, pochard, scaup, merganser

Translations

Every language

noun male duck

Españolpato
한국어수오리 suori
日本語雄鴨 ogamo
Portuguêspato, marreco
Françaismalard, canard mâle
DeutschErpel, Enterich, Entenmännchen, männliche Ente
Italianopapero
Românărățoi
Русскийсе́лезень sélezenʹ

noun small dragon

Portuguêsdragãozinho, dragonete, drago
DeutschDrache

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Cite this
MLA

"drake." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/drake. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

drake. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/drake

Chicago

"drake." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/drake.

BibTeX
@misc{drake_2026,
  title = {drake},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/drake},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}