drake

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun English explorer and admiral who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and who helped to defeat the Spanish Armada (1540-1596)
  2. noun adult male of a wild or domestic duck

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake

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