duellum

Etymology
From, further etymology uncertain.

Perhaps from, , cognate with 🇨🇬, ,.

See also, whence , 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬 and others.

De Vaan instead favors Pinault 1987's proposal of a derivation from a diminutive of, i.e. , with the sense developing from an originally euphemistic use.

The initial of  changed to  in  (compare the change from  to, and  to ). See. 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.

Pronunciation


In Plautus, who uses this form occasionally as an archaizing alternative to, duel- generally scans as a single syllable, implying a pronunciation with the original cluster /dw/. However, in Amphitryon 189 (quoted below), if the manuscripts are not corrupt, the scansion with /du/ may occur (du.ël.lo‿ex.stinc.to). But an alternative explanation is that this line starts with dvel.lo.ex.stinc.to, with hiatus rather than elision of the final -o.

The innovative pronunciation with /du/ occurs in Ennius' Annales ("Hos pestis necuit, pars occidit illa duellis") and in the works of subsequent poets such as Ovid, Horace, and Statius.

Noun

 * 1)  war
 * 2)  combat between two contenders, duel
 * 1)  combat between two contenders, duel
 * 1)  combat between two contenders, duel