Duopolies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A market condition where two companies dominate the supply of a product or service
2. An economic scenario characterized by competition between two leading firms
3. A situation in an industry where two players hold significant control over pricing and output

Etymology: "Duopolies" is the plural of "duopoly," a market controlled by two sellers. The word is built from the prefix "duo-," meaning two, and the suffix "-poly," which marks the number of sellers in a market, modelled on "monopoly." Its most familiar illustration is the cola market, where Coca-Cola and Pepsi are often described as a duopoly. The base element traces back to a very old root meaning "two," which also gave Latin "duo," but the formation itself is a modern one: economists needed a term parallel to "monopoly" for markets with just two sellers, and "duopoly" was coined on that pattern.

Synonyms: dual monopolies