Great Duken.
/ˌɡreɪt ˈdjuːk/, /ˌɡreɪt ˈdʒuːk/, U.S. /ˌɡreɪt ˈd(j)uk/ Now chiefly historical.
= Grand Duke n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > sovereign ruler or monarch > other independent rulers > [noun] > grand-duke
Great Duke1555
duke1614
Grand Duke1698
1555 R. Eden tr. S. von Herberstein Rerum moscouiticarum commentarii in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 289v Of the Princes that nowe reigne in Russia, the chiefe is the great Duke of Moscouia who possesseth the greatest part therof.
1667 ‘Rege Sincera’ Observ. Burning of London 19 That the Great Duke..had so depopulated the Countrey.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VII. 198 In the presence of the Great Duke of Tuscany and his court.
1807 W. Coxe Hist. House of Austria I. xxxvii. 632 His son and heir..purchased from the emperor..the confirmation of the title of Great Duke, which had been borne by his father.
1855 R. Browning Statue & Bust in Men & Women (1856) 111 As one at each ear and both in a breath Whispered, ‘The Great-Duke Ferdinand’.
1922 C. Hussey Eton College 31 Being at that time in the service of the Great Duke of Florence.
1996 L. McCarney tr. A. Lahalle & D. Gask in W. McCarney Juvenile Delinquents & Young People in Danger in Open Environment i. 28 The Great Duke of Luxembourg seems to be the one with the most constitutional power.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1555