duodecimvirate

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English[edit]

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Etymology[edit]

From the Latin duodecimvirātus, from duodecimvirī (duodecimvirs) + -ātus (-ate).

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Noun[edit]

duodecimvirate

  1. (uncommon) A group of twelve people, especially (politics) a council of twelve men sharing office or rule, particularly such groups of magistrates in ancient Rome.
    • 1789, William Williams, Primitive History, from the Creation to Cadmus, page 482:
      Strabo ſeems to ſay, there were fronting theſe halls, (which Diodorus likewiſe ſeems to diſtinguiſh from the labyrinth, ſtyling it the work of the Duodecimvirate) 27 other halls.
    • 1948, The Contemporary Review, CLXXIV, page 184:
      It is essential to [Stalin] and to his duodecimvirate that open war shall be avoided or postponed for as long as possible.
    • 1984, Diane Duane, My Enemy, My Ally, page 22:
      The Tricameron…comprised…a “Senate”…and a “Praetorate,” a sort of quadruple troika or duodecimvirate: twelve men and women who implemented the Senate’s decrees, declared war or peace, and…spent most of the time squabbling amongst themselves for power.
    • 1996, Michael Peachin, Iudex vice Caesaris, page 135:
      It would appear that the duodecimvirate was held after the praetorship, but before the consulate.
    • 2008, Michael Somers, Galactic Exodus, page 73:
      The logs of each member of the covert duodecimvirate displayed identical readouts.

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