English explorer and admiral who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and who helped to defeat the Spanish Armada (1540-1596)
"Francis Drake, a legendary English explorer and admiral, became famous for being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe."
adult male of a wild or domestic duck
"The drake paddled calmly across the pond while the female ducks gathered nearby."
A male duck.
"The angler tied a realistic drake onto his hook to catch trout in the river."
A mayfly used as fishing bait.
In plain English: A drake is an adult male duck.
"The drake swam gracefully across the pond while his ducks followed behind him."
An English surname, from nicknames, originally a byname from Old English draca or Old Norse draki, both meaning “dragon”.
"The famous rapper known as Drake was born Aubrey Graham but adopted his father's nickname before turning it into an English surname."
The word "drake" comes from Old English, where it originally meant a male duck or the king of ducks. It traveled into modern English through Middle English while retaining this specific meaning for an adult male waterfowl.