Link Centre Dictionary

duel

UK/ˈˈd͡ʒuːəl/ US/ˈdjuːəl/ fairly common
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

a prearranged fight with deadly weapons by two people (accompanied by seconds) in order to settle a quarrel over a point of honor

Synonyms
2.

any struggle between two skillful opponents (individuals or groups)

verb

1.

fight a duel, as over one''s honor or a woman

  • “In the 19th century, men often dueled over small matters”

Origin

From Medieval Latin duellum (“fight between two men, duel”), itself from Old Latin duellum (“war, fight”), which survived in Classical Latin as a rare byform of bellum and was later reinterpreted as “duel” by unetymological association with duo (“two”). May have entered English through Middle French duel.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.