duumvirate

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Latin duumvirātus, from duumvir +‎ -ātus. Equivalent to duumvir +‎ -ate (forms nound denoting rank or office, here the group of people involved with it).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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duumvirate (plural duumvirates)

  1. Synonym of diarchy: rule by two people, especially two men.
    • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 310:
      To replace the all-powerful Salan, de Gaulle appointed a duumvirate – Paul Delouvrier and General Maurice Challe.
    • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 241:
      This was to raise the prospect of a duumvirate – ‘two heads in the same hat’, as Bernis quaintly put it.
  2. (historical) Any of several offices of the Roman Republic held by two joint magistrates known as duumvirs.
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Translations

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