duellum

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *deh₂w-, *dew- (“to injure, destroy, burn”). Cognate with Ancient Greek δαίω (daíō, “to burn”), δύη (dúē, “misery, pain”). The initial dw of duellum changed to b in bellum (compare the change from duis to bis, and duonos to bonus). See w:History of Latin § Other sequences. The archaic form duellum survived in poetry. In Medieval Latin, the sense shifted to a combat between, specifically, two contenders, under the influence of the (non-cognate) word duo (“two”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /duˈel.lum/, [d̪uˈɛlːʲʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /duˈel.lum/, [d̪uˈɛlːum]

Noun

duellum n (genitive duellī); second declension

1. (poetic, archaic) war
2. (Medieval Latin) combat between two contenders, duel

   Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando

   Death and life have contended in a marvelous combat (from the Easter Sequence)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	duellum	duella
Genitive	duellī	duellōrum
Dative	duellō	duellīs
Accusative	duellum	duella
Ablative	duellō	duellīs
Vocative	duellum	duella

Synonyms

• bellum

Derived terms

• duellātor
• duellis
• duellō
• Duellōna
• perduellis
• ?proelium

Descendants

• Dutch: duel
• English: duel
• French: duel
• German: Duell

• Italian: duello
• Portuguese: duelo
• Romanian: duel
• Russian: дуэль (duelʹ)
• Spanish: duelo

See also

• bellum

References

• “duellum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “duellum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• duellum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• duellum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.