English Word Reference Free

duke

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "duke", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "duke" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "duke" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

duke is aEnglishnoun. It means: The male ruler of a duchy (female equivalent: duchess). Pronounced /dʒuːk/. It ranks #3,293 in English word frequency. Often confused with duo and dye.

Key facts for duke
PropertyValue
Headwordduke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dʒuːk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,293
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of duke in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for duke is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dʒuːk/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,293 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for duke, with forms such as "dduke", "dkue", and "duek". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "duo", "dye", "dun", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is duke, spelled D-U-K-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

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

Etymology

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.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: dduke,dkue,duek,dukke,udke

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for duke

Misspelling Variants of "duke"

dduke5dkue4duek4dukke5udke4
Misspelling Variants of "duke"

Frequency rank: #3,293 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "duke"?
"duke" is spelled D-U-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /dʒuːk/.
What does "duke" mean?
As a noun, "duke" means: The male ruler of a duchy (female equivalent: duchess).
What words are commonly confused with "duke"?
"duke" is commonly confused with "duo", "dye", "dun". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "duke"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "duke" is /dʒuːk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "duke"?
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-Ind... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.