"woman, girl," by 1991, from dude in the surfer/teen slang sense + fem. ending -ette. Earlier (in the fastidious dresser/Old West sense) were dudine (1883), dudess (1885).
duct
ductile
dud
dude
dudeism
dudette
dudgeon
duds
due
duel
duelist
)window.location='https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=byronic106@yahoo.com&lc=US&item_name=Donation+to +Help+Keep+Etymonline+Free+and+Open&no_note=0&cn=&curency_code=USD&bn=PP-DonationsBF:btn_donateCC_LG.gif:NonHosted'){kind=link}