公爵

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 公爵, read こうしゃく, and it is a noun naming a specific rank in a system of nobility and its holder.
• Basic usage: The basic sense of 公爵 is a duke, the holder of a particular high rank in a system of nobility.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A specific title rather than any noble
  • Both examples use the form 公爵. It identifies one defined rank and its holder, not members of the nobility in general.
• A ball and a portrait subject
  • 物語の公爵は古い城で舞踏会を開いた。 — The duke in the story held a ball at an old castle.
  • 肖像画の人物が当時の公爵だと説明された。 — We were told that the person in the portrait was the duke at that time.