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Drake

//dɹeɪk// name, noun

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a byname from Old English draca or Old Norse draki, both meaning “dragon”.
  2. 2
    An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a byname from Old English draca or Old Norse draki, both meaning “dragon”.; Francis Drake (1540-1596), English sea captain, pirate, and explorer of the Elizabethan era.
  3. 3
    An Irish surname, anglicized from Drach, itself a Hiberno-Norman name English Drake.
  4. 4
    A male given name transferred from the surname.

    "Drake was not at all what I'd anticipated. His macho soap opera name had put me in mind of aristocrats or oversexed mallards."

  5. 5
    A locality in the Tenterfield council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
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  1. 6
    A village in Saskatchewan, Canada.
  2. 7
    A ward of Plymouth, Devon, England; named for aqueduct Drake's Leat, itself for Francis Drake, Mayor of Plymouth at the time of its construction.
  3. 8
    A locale in the United States.; A city in North Dakota; named for early settler Herman Drake.
  4. 9
    A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Yavapai County, Arizona.
  5. 10
    A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Colorado.
  6. 11
    A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Illinois.
  7. 12
    A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Kentucky.
  8. 13
    A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for Missouri statesman Charles D. Drake.
  9. 14
    A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in South Carolina.
Noun
  1. 1
    A male duck.

    "A drake belonging to a chemist, having drunk water out of a copper vessel which had contained phosphorous, continued its amorous activities until death."

  2. 2
    dragon poetic

    "Clay caught sight of the drake's wing outlined against the rising flames as it swept low over the desert."

  3. 3
    adult male of a wild or domestic duck wordnet
  4. 4
    dragon; lesser draconic creature poetic
  5. 5
    beaked galley, or Viking warship
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  1. 6
    small piece of artillery historical

    "Two or three shots, made at them by a couple of drakes, made them stagger."

  2. 7
    a fiery meteor (variously known as fiery serpents and dragons in many cultures)

    "The moon’s my constant Mistresse & the lowlie owle my morrowe. The flaming Drake and yͤ Nightcrowe make"

  3. 8
    mayfly
  4. 9
    mayfly; a mayfly used as fishing bait

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English drake (“male duck, drake”), from Old English *draca, abbreviated form for Old English *andraca (“male duck, drake”, literally “duck-king”), from Proto-West Germanic *anadrekō (“duck leader”). Cognate with Low German drake (“drake”), Dutch draak (“drake”), German Enterich (“drake”). More at annet.

Etymology 2

From Middle English drake (“dragon; Satan”), from Old English draca (“dragon, sea monster, huge serpent”), from Proto-West Germanic *drakō (“dragon”), from Latin dracō (“dragon”), from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “serpent, giant seafish”), from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “I see clearly”). Compare Middle Dutch drake and German Drache. Doublet of dragon.

Etymology 3

* As an English surname, from both senses of the noun drake meaning "male duck" and "dragon." * As a German surname, from Low German drake (“dragon”), related to the above. * As a Dutch surname, Americanized/West Flemish variant of Draak, also related to the above.

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