duel
pronunciation
How to pronounce duel in British English:
UK [ˈdju:əl]
How to pronounce duel in American English:
US [ˈduəl]
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- Noun:
- a prearranged fight with deadly weapons by two people (accompanied by seconds) in order to settle a quarrel over a point of honor
- any struggle between two skillful opponents (individuals or groups)
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- Verb:
- fight a duel, as over one's honor or a woman
Word Origin
- duel
- duel: see dual
- duel (n.)
- 1590s (from late 13c. in Latin form), from Medieval Latin duellum "combat between two persons," by association with Latin duo "two," but originally from Latin duellum "war," an Old Latin form of bellum (see bellicose). Retained in poetic and archaic language and apparently given a special meaning in Medieval or Late Latin of "one-on-one combat" on fancied connection with duo "two."
- duel (v.)
- 1640s, see duel (n.). Related: Dueled; dueling; duelling.
Example
- 1. My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death .
- 2. Plain packs will not end the duel .
- 3. Today I sense a polite backlash among the present generation of young women who have watched their moms buckle under the duel pressures of jobs and motherhood .
- 4. This was not a fair duel .
- 5. Honeybee biologists call it a duel .