duchess
Ⅰ
noun
1
a wife. An affectionate title, adopted from 'the wife of a duke' (the highest hereditary rank of nobility), originally given to costermongers' wives, perhaps in relation to the coster-royalty of Pearly Kings and Queens. May be a shortened form of DUCHESS OF FIFE, or extended from DUTCH (a spouse) UK, 1895.
2
a girlfriend US, 1945.
3
a female member of a youth gang US, 1993.
4
a comfortably-off or grandly well-appointed homosexual man UK, 2002verb to treat as a VIP AUSTRALIA, 1956
Ⅱ ⇨ Duchess of Teck; duchess
noun a cheque. Rhyming slang, formed from the title of Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Mary ('Princess May') of Teck (1867–1953), queen consort of George V, or from her mother, Princess Mary Adelaide, who was entitled Duchess of Teck from 1871. The husband, DUKE OF TECK, serves the same purpose in slang UK, 1960