Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DUKE, n. [Fr. duc; Sp. and Port. duque; It. duca; Arm. dug, or doug; Sax. teoche, and in composition, toga, toge, as in heretoga, an army-leader, a general; D. hertog; G. herzog; Dan. hertug; Sw. hertig; Venetian, doge; L. dux, from duco, to lead, as in Saxon, tiogan, teon, to draw, to tug; Gr. ταγος; Thessalian, tagus. Class Dg, No. 5, 14.]

1. In Great Britain, one of the highest order of nobility; a title of honor or nobility next below the princes; as, the Duke of Bedford, or of Cornwall.
2. In some countries on the Continent, a sovereign prince, without the title of king; as, the Duke of Holstein, of Savoy, of Parma, &c.
3. A chief; a prince; as, the dukes of Edom. – Gen. xxxvi.