释义 |
Grand Duke [a. F. grand duc, a literal rendering of It. granduca, G. groszherzog, Russian velikiĭ kniaz. See duke.] 1. a. The title of the sovereigns of certain European countries (called Grand Duchies); the rank so designated is understood to be one degree below that of king. b. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the title of any of the sons of an emperor. (Cf. duke 2, 2 c.) The title seems to have been first assumed by the ruler of Tuscany in the 16th c. Before Peter the Great, the sovereign of Russia was styled ‘Grand Duke of Muscovy’ in European diplomacy.
a1693Ludlow Mem. (1698) II. 507 A Fleet..was sent..to require satisfaction from the Grand Duke of Tuscany. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 309/2 On his death, his next brother, the Grand Duke Constantine, was proclaimed king at Warsaw. 1835Ibid. III. 260/1 The executive and judicial powers in Baden are vested in the grand duke. 1875T. Martin Prince Consort I. 214 The Emperor [of Russia] had been in England before..when Grand-Duke. 2. A name of the Great Eagle Owl (Bubo ignavus). [F. grand duc: cf. duke 5.]
1855Ogilvie, Suppl., Grand-duke, the great horned owl (Bubo maximus), a species but rarely met with in the British Islands. 1882Ouida Maremma I. 125 A great grand-duke owl..flew heavily by her. 1895Daily News 3 July 5/4 All sorts of owls save the one known in France as the Grand Duke. Hence grand-ˈducal a., of or belonging to a Grand Duke; grand-ˈducalist a., that supports grand-ducal power or rule; grand-ˈdukedom, the possessions or title of a Grand Duke.
1833Alison Hist. Europe (1850) II. lxxv. §57. 371 Tearing from his brow the grand-ducal crown of Poland. 1860Sala Baddington Peerage xliv, Before the magnificence of his titles and possessions German grand-dukedoms..paled their ineffectual fires. 1864Daily Tel. 3 Oct., Where the population is republican in the lower classes, and Granducalist in the higher. 1885A. M. Clerke Pop. Hist. Astron. ii. 35 Grand-ducal patronage. |