Duce is an Italian word meaning leader or the second, derived from Latin word dux in singular accusative case "ducem" which means to lead, of which Duke is a derivation. Other Italian leaders whose names derive from dux are the Doges of Venice and Genoa.
The title was used outside its traditional noble sense in some of the publications praising Garibaldi during the Unification of Italy in 1860, though not taken up officially by Garibaldi himself [1].
"Duce" was more formally used by Victor Emmanuel III in 1915, during World War I. The term was also used by Gabriele d'Annunzio as dictator of the self-proclaimed Italian Regency of Carnaro in 1920 and, most significantly, by the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini; the painting Il Duce, by Gerardo Dottori, indeed represents Mussolini. Due to Benito Mussolini, who gave himself the name "Il Duce" in 1925, it has become associated with Fascism and is no longer frequent in contemporary use other than in reference to him. Due to modern anti-fascist sentiment, Italian speakers in general now use other words for "leader", mainly including the English loanword. However, the term Duce survives as an antonomasia for Benito Mussolini.
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Italian il the, duce commander, leader
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Il Duce
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