# duke

Pronunciation: US say "DOOK" /duk/; UK say "DYOOK" /djuːk/

## Noun

1. A high rank of nobility, or the man who holds a dukedom.
   - Simple: A very high rank among nobles, or the man who has that rank.
   - _As a duke, he outranked every earl and marquess at the coronation._
   - _The old duke left his estates and his title to a distant cousin._
2. A man who rules a duchy or other small independent state as its sovereign.
   - Simple: A man who rules a small country or region called a duchy.
   - _The duke raised taxes across his duchy to pay for the war._
   - _For centuries the region was governed by its own dukes rather than by a king._
3. A grand duke, referred to by the shorter title.
   - Simple: A grand duke, called just duke for short.
5. A fist, especially as used for fighting. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A hand closed tightly, especially to fight with.
   - _The bartender had fast dukes and a short temper._
   - _When the drunk stepped closer, Frankie put up his dukes and waited._

## Verb

4. To hit or beat someone with the fists. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To hit someone with your fists.
   - _Instead of talking it through, the two neighbors duked it out on the front lawn while everyone watched._
   - _Two fans started duking it out in the parking lot after the game, and security had to pull them apart._
6. To give someone money in cash, or to give someone a tip. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To hand someone some cash or give them a tip.
   - _He duked the parking attendant a twenty to keep the car up front._
   - _Regulars know to duke the bartender early, and their drinks come faster all night._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To act as a duke, carrying out a duke's duties, or to rule over a place as its duke.
- (noun) Any of several Asian butterflies of the family Nymphalidae belonging to the genera Bassarona and Dophla.

## Origin

Latin dux, ducis passed into Old French as duc and then into Middle English as duk, duke. The same Latin word had already given late Old English duc, and the borrowing pushed out the native Old English heretoga. Doge, duc, duce and dux are doublets. The "fist" sense is thought to come from Cockney rhyming slang, in which "Duke(s) of York" stands for fork. Fork in turn is Cockney slang for a hand, hence a fist.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/duke (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).