Join free

duke

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

duke¹

  • /dʒuːk/ UK
  • /djuːk/ UK
  • /duːk/ US

Sounds like juke · Rhymes with -uːk

Where it comes from

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.

noun dukes

  1. The male ruler of a duchy (female equivalent: duchess).
  2. The sovereign of a small state.
  3. A high title of nobility; the male holder of a dukedom.
  4. A grand duke.
  5. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the Asian genera Bassarona and Dophla.
  6. plural normally, slang A fist. Put up your dukes!

verb dukes · duking · duked

  1. informal, transitive To hit or beat with the fists. It seems that PI Rainer was duked by his wife […].
  2. slang, transitive To give cash to; to give a tip to. I duked him twenty dollars.

    Similar: tip

  3. To perform the duties of, or rule over as, a duke.

Duke²

  • /duːk/

Rhymes with -uːk

noun Dukes

  1. The title of a duke. Percy’s military career began in France under Dukes Henry and John of Lancaster; […]

proper noun Dukes

  1. countable A male given name from English; mostly US and rather rare.
  2. countable A surname originating as an occupation for service in the household of a duke, or from a nickname.
  3. countable, informal, uncountable A male nickname.
  4. countable, informal, uncountable, usually, with the definite article The American actor John Wayne. "Whoa there, pardner," Kiril said in his best Duke impression, and grabbed hold of the armrest to keep from rolling into Fyodor's lap.
  5. abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, informal, uncountable Ellipsis of Duke University, a private university in Durham, North Carolina, USA.
  6. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Phelps County, Missouri, United States.
  7. countable, uncountable A township in Harnett County, North Carolina, United States.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: prince, doge, senior, grace, choose, hwan, duck, blacksmith, doek, dogg, horned, albuquerque, constantine, wayne, duque, duca

Translations

Every language

noun male ruler of a duchy

Españolduque
한국어공작 gongjak
日本語公爵 kōshaku
中文公爵 gōngjué
हिन्दीशासक śāsak, ड्यूक ḍyūk
Portuguêsduque
Françaisduc
DeutschHerzog
Italianoduca
Ελληνικάδούκας doúkas
Românăduce
Русскийге́рцог gércog, князь knjazʹ, воево́да vojevóda
Tiếng Việtcông tước
العربيةدُوق dūq
עבריתדוכס, דֻּכָּס dukás

noun male holder of a dukedom

Españolduque
Portuguêsduque
Ελληνικάδούκας doúkas
Românăduce

noun grand duke

Portuguêsgrão-duque
DeutschGroßherzog
Ελληνικάμέγας δούκας mégas doúkas

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{duke_2026,
  title = {duke},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/duke},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}