Duellos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Formal fights between two individuals governed by an agreed set of rules ; intense personal conflicts or rivalries ; traditional combat challenging honor and reputation
2. Agreed confrontations involving weapons between two parties ; bitter disputes or competition that can be figurative ; ceremonial encounters used historically to settle matters of pride
3. Regulated combat engagements often for honor between two opponents ; serious quarrels or disputes ; historical physical challenges typically involving weapons and strict protocols

Etymology: "Duellos" is the plural of "duello," a word English borrowed from Italian, where it meant the same kind of formal, rule-bound combat. The Italian term is a doublet of "duel," meaning the two words descend from the same source but came into English by different routes. "Duel" arrived through Old French and Medieval Latin, while "duello" entered English directly from Italian, so the two sit side by side as near-twins with a shared ancestry. Because "duello" was taken straight from Italian, it keeps the sense of a codified contest that Italian writers were discussing in the period when English speakers borrowed it. Its plural, "duellos," is the form that reflects the Italian-style spelling rather than the everyday English "duels." The two forms are separate in English, but they point back to the same Latin root, "duellum," an older form of "bellum" meaning war.

Synonyms: duels, fights, battles, contests, combats

Antonyms: peace, truce, ceasefire, harmony, agreement