Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Duel |
DuelNoun1. A prearranged fight with deadly weapons by two people (accompanied by seconds) in order to settle a quarrel over a point of honor. 2. Any struggle between two skillful opponents (individuals or groups). Verb1. Fight a duel, as over one's honor or a woman; "In the 19th century, men often dueled over small matters". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "duel" was first used: sometime around 1475. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | DUEL, n. A formal ceremony preliminary to the reconciliation of two enemies. Great skill is necessary to its satisfactory observance; if awkwardly performed the most unexpected and deplorable consequences sometimes ensue. A long time ago a man lost his life in a duel. That dueling's a gentlemanly vice I hold; and wish that it had been my lot To live my life out in some favored spot -- Some country where it is considered nice To split a rival like a fish, or slice A husband like a spud, or with a shot Bring down a debtor doubled in a knot And ready to be put upon the ice. Some miscreants there are, whom I do long To shoot, to stab, or some such way reclaim The scurvy rogues to better lives and manners, I seem to see them now -- a mighty throng. It looks as if to challenge me they came, Jauntily marching with brass bands and banners! Xamba Q. Dar. Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
Computing | DUEL A front end to gdb by Michael Golan |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
While there have been fights about insults since antiquity, the idea of a formalized structure for such fights as a matter of honour grew out of the medieval legal concept of trial by combat. This became a respectable way of controlling violent disputes between gentlemen.
Authorities such as the Catholic Church and heads of state denounced the practice and outlawed it. Some authorities tacitly permitted it if the forms were followed, as a way to reduce vendettas between families and social factions.
The first code duello (dueling code) was that of Renaissance France. It was followed by an Irish code duello in 1777 which was influential in the U.S.
Prominent people sometimes took part in duels, or at least ran the risk of being called out. The famous fatal duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr and that of the Duke of Wellington and the 10th Earl of Winchilsea are among the most famous, but there was opposition to dueling. This included Benjamin Franklin, who denounced dueling as bloody and useless and George Washington, who encouraged his officers to refuse challenges.
Dueling began to lose public favour as the practice was more abused to commit legal murder. A classic case occurred in 1806 when Andrew Jackson shot an opponent in cold blood immediately after the duel was technically concluded. By the late 19th century, this shift in public mood allowed the authorities to discourage dueling and the practice of it dropped to near extinction.
Some authorities believe that the English aristocracy adopted boxing as a replacement for dueling. As late as 1960, it was still common for police departments in small U.S. towns to take two brawling youths, force them to don boxing gloves, and make them "fight it out fairly" in a public square with observers.
See also:
Duel is also the name of a Stephen Spielberg film See Duel (film).
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Duel."
Synonym: DuelSynonym: affaire d'honneur (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Contention | Duel, duello; single combat, monomachy, satisfaction, passage d'armes, passage of arms, affair of honor; triangular duel; hostile meeting, digladiation; deeds of arms, feats of arms; appeal to arms; (warfare). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Duel |
| English words defined with "duel": Aaron Burr, Affair of honor, Alexander Hamilton ♦ burr ♦ call out, call-out, Camptight ♦ Duelo ♦ Evariste Galois ♦ Galois ♦ Hamilton ♦ Monomachy ♦ second, Single combat. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "duel": Acre-fight ♦ Challenge ♦ Duke's Walk ♦ Ezzelin ♦ Golden Ball ♦ Jarnac ♦ Measure Swords. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "duel": Bellicose ♦ Dueler, Duelo. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Duel" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Albanian (duel), French (duel), Romanian (affair of honor, affair of honour, duel). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | It's time to duel. (Ygi; writing credit: Matthew Drdek; Lloyd Goldfine) | |
Tongue Twisters | A purely rural duel truly plural is better than a purely plural duel truly rural. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Duel in the Wind (1970) The Grand Duel (1968) Good Evening Dear Husband. A Duel (1968) The Long Duel (1967) Duel i Heshtur (1967) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | A rather fanciful impression of the action, depicting USS Olympia, at left, and the Spanish cruiser Reina Cristina, at right, engaged in a gunnery duel. The original, from an artwork by F. Fetherstone, 1898, was printed on a stereograph card. Credit: NAVY. | ![]() | Symptoms of a duel. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | The duel. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Duel in the sun. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Brick Bradford in the middle of the Earth. Brick, confronted by the masked champion of Azca's besieged city in a duel to settle the war, gallops to the attack". Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | This strange battle was like a duel between two wounded infuriates who, while yet fighting and resisting, lose all their blood. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Austria | Microsoft is winning the web-browsers duel with Netscape with about 80 percent market share. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Duel" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 89.80% of the time. "Duel" is used about 196 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 89.8% | 176 | 23,410 |
| Noun (proper) | 7.14% | 14 | 93,893 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 3.06% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Total | 100.00% | 196 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "duel" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Duel | Last name | 100 | 85,684 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "duel": challenge smb. to a duel ♦ fight a duel ♦ Trial by duel. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "duel": duel-scarred. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "duel"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | dyluftim (meeting, rencontre, rencounter, tournament, tourney), duel, garë (competition, contest, emulation, meeting, race, rush). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | مبارزة (fencing, swordplay), نزاع (contention, contest, controversy, difference, disagreement, discord, discordance, disputation, dispute, division, embroilment, fray, odds, quarrel, question, row, spar, squall, strife, struggle, tangle, variance, wont), تبارز (fight), بارز (beetle, conspicuous, distinct, distinguished, eminent, featured, fence, great, in the first flight, lofty, memorable, monumental, noble, notable, noticeable, outstanding, pointed, profile, prognathous, projecting, prominent, protruding, protuberant, remarkable, salient, signal, striking, uncommon). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | състезание (competition, contest, meeting), дуел (encounter, rencontre), двубой (rencontre). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 決鬥 , 决斗 (Dueling, duelling). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | souboj. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | duelleren (to fight a duel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | جنگ تن بتن , دوءل کردن , دوءل . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | kaksintaistelu (single combat). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | duel. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | duell. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | μονομαχία (battle combat, single combat). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מלחמ" בי ים, ל"לחם ב"ו קרב, "ו קרב (fight). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | párbaj (encounter, fray, single combat). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | perkelahian (affray, broil, melee, slog), perang tanding. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | duello. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 決闘 (shoot-out). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | デュエル , けっとう (blood sugar, family line, formation of a party, lineage, pedigree, shoot-out), はたしあい. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 결투 (Dueling, duelling). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | caggey fer rish fer. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norwegian | duellere, duell. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | uelday duelo (encounter, rencontre, rencounter), contenda (bicker, contention, controversy, dispute, feud, quarrel, row, scramble, scrimmage, squabble, strife, struggle, tussle). (various references) duel (affair of honor, affair of honour), se duela. (various references) дуэль (meeting, rencontre, rencounter). (various references) dvoboj (rencontre), tući se na dvoboju. (various references) duelo (affair, bereavement, grief, mourning). (various references) duell (passages of arms). (various references) แข่งขันระหว่าง 2 คน, การแข่งขันระหว่าง 2 คน. (various references) düello etmek, düello (rencontre, single combat), çekişme (bickering, chaffer, cliffhanger, competition, conflict, contention, contest, contestation, controversy, debate, fight, quarreling, rivalry, strife, tug of war). (various references) битися на дуелі, дуель (encounter, rencontre, rencounter). (various references) cuộc đọ kiếm tay đôi. (various references) ornest (bout, combat, contest). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | duellum. (various references) |
| Medieval Latin | 700-1500 | duellum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Numbers Chapter 2, Verse 14 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai oi paremballonteV ecomenoi autou fulhV gad kai o arcwn twn uiwn gad elisaf uioV ragouhl |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | In tribu Gad princeps fuit Heliasaph filius Duhel |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | In the lynage of Gad, prince was Eliasaph, the sone of Duel; |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And the trybe of Gad also: And the captayne ouer the sonnes of Gad Eliasaph the sonne of Deguel |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Then the tribe of Gad, with Eliasaph, son of Reuel, as their chief. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Numbers Chapter 2, Verse 14 |
| Cebuano | Ug ang banay ni Gad: ug ang principe sa mga anak ni Gad, si Eliasaph, ang anak nga lalake ni Dehuel. |
| Chinese | 又 有 迦 得 " 派 . 丟 珥 的 ' 子 以 利 雅 薩 作 迦 得 人 的 首 。 |
| Croatian | Onda pleme Gadovo. Glavar je Gadovih potomaka Elijasaf, sin Deuelov. |
| Danish | Dernæst Gads Stamme med Eljasaf, Reuels Søn, som Øverste over Gadiferne; |
| Dutch | Daartoe de stam van Gad; en Eljasaf, de zoon van Rehuel, zal de overste der zonen van Gad zijn. |
| Finnish | Sitten Gaadin sukukunta, ja Gaadin jälkeläisten päämiehenä olkoon Eljasaf, Reguelin poika; |
| French | puis la tribu de Gad, le prince des fils de Gad, Éliasaph, fils de Déuel, |
| German | Dazu der Stamm Gad; ihr Hauptmann Eljasaph, der Sohn Reguels, |
| Hungarian | Azután Gád törzse, és Gád fiainak fejedelme: Eliásáf, a Réuel fia. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Dan lagi suku Gad, maka Elyasaf bin Rehuil menjadi penghulu bani Gad itu. |
| Korean | 또 " 지 파 라 " 자 손 의 족 장 은 르 우 엘 의 아 " 엘 리 아 삽 이 " |
| Maori | Ko reira te iwi o Kara: a ko Eriahapa tama a Reuere, hei rangatira mo nga tama a Kara. |
| Norwegian | Likeså Gads stamme; og høvdingen for Gads barn er Eljasaf, Re'uels sønn, |
| Portuguese | Depois a tribo de Gade; e Eliasafe, filho de Reuel, será o príncipe dos filhos de Gade. |
| Rumanian | apoi seminyia lui Gad, wi mai marele fiilor lui Gad, Elisa, fiul lui Deuel, |
| Russian | ПФПН ЛПМЕОП зБ"Б, Й ОБЮБМШОЙЛ УЩОПЧ зБ"Б еМЙБУБЖ, УЩО тЕЗХЙМБ, |
| Spanish | También la tribu de Gad. El jefe de los hijos de Gad será Eliasaf hijo de Reuel. |
| Swedish | Därnäst Gads stam: Gads barns hövding Eljasaf, Reguels son |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "duel": dueled, dueler, duelers, dueling, duelist, duelists, duelled, dueller, duellers, duelli, duelling, duellist, duellists, duello, duellos, duels. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "duel": outduel. (additional references) | |
Words containing "duel": outdueled, outdueling, outduelled, outduelling, outduels. (additional references) | |
| |
"Duel" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: adule, Dael, Daudel, ddel, deel, dekel, delk, delz, demelo, detel, Deuel, Deuil, deul, deuq, deux, Dewell, dewl, dezl, diel, dodel, doei, dogel, doil, domel, Domela, dorel, Dosell, doul, dovel, druel, druil, drule, Dsubl, Duala, Duao, duax, dubl, dudely, duell, duelli, duely, duem, duen, dueo, duer, duex, dufel, duil, duix, dukel, dul, dule, dulep, duley, dulm, dunel, Dunelmi, Duul, duzel, dwel, Dyell, edule, ouel, tuel, Udl, uel, vuel, yuel. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "duel" (pronounced duw"ul) |
| 4 | d uw" u l | dual. |
| 3 | -uw" u l | accrual, crewel, cruel, fuel, gruel, jewel, nonaccrual, refuel, renewal. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: leud, lude. | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-l-u" | |
-1 letter: del, due, eld, led, leu. | |
-2 letters: de, ed, el. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-l-u" | |
+1 letter: blued, clued, duels, dulse, duple, elude, flued, glued, leuds, lubed, ludes, luged, lured, luted, muled, puled, ruled, slued, unled. | |
+2 letters: allude, almude, aludel, audile, aulder, belaud, blumed, buddle, bugled, bulbed, bulged, bulked, bulled, bundle, burled, butled, caudle, cedula, cuddle, cudgel, culled, culmed, curdle, curled, delude, deluge, deluxe, dilute, double, dueled, dueler, duelli, duello, duffel, duffle, dulcet, dulled, duller, dulses, duplex, eluded, eluder, eludes, eluted, feudal, fluked, flumed, fluted, fluxed, fouled, fuddle, fueled, fugled, fulled, furled, guiled, gulden, gulfed, gulled, gulped, hauled, huddle, hulked, hulled, hurdle, hurled, kludge, lauded, lauder, leudes, louden, louder, louped, loured, loused, louted, lucked, luffed, lugged, lulled, lumped, lunged, lunted, lurked, lushed, lusted, mauled, module, muddle, mulled, nodule, nudely, nulled, nurled, plumed, puddle, pulled, pulped, pulsed, purled, ruddle, rudely, rundle, sludge, souled, sulked, teledu, unlade, unlead, upheld, valued, wauled. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Bible Trace | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.