Drake definition

Middle English dragon from Old English draca from West Germanic drako from Latin dracō dragon

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-Germanic *anudrekô (“duck leader”), from Proto-Germanic *anudz ("duck, ennet"; see ennet) + Proto-Germanic *rekô (“ruler, king”), from Proto-Indo-European *reǵ- (“chief, king”). Cognate with Middle Dutch andrake (“drake”), Middle Low German āntreke, āntdrāke, ("male duck, drake"; > Low German drake (“drake”)), Old High German anutrehho, antrache ("male duck, drake"; > German Enterich (“drake”)), Swabian Antrech (“drake”), German dialectal Drache (“drake”). More at ennet.

From Middle English drake (“dragon; Satan”), Old English draca (“dragon, sea monster, huge serpent”), from Proto-Germanic *drakô (“dragon”), from Latin dracō (“dragon”), from Ancient Greek δράκων (drakon, “serpent, giant seafish”), from δρακεῖν (drakein), aorist active infinitive of δέρκομαι (derkomai, “I see clearly”), from Proto-Indo-European *derk-. Compare Middle Dutch drake and German Drache.

Originally a nickname from Old English Draca (“snake,dragon”) or Middle English drake (“male duck”).