What does duel mean?

duel noun. uk /ˈdʒuː.əl/ us /ˈduː.əl/. › [ C ] a formal fight in the past, using guns or swords, arranged between two people as a way of deciding an argument: The two men fought a duel over the lady.

Is dual a fight?

Not quite! Dual is two, or double, but a duel is a fight. If you're getting sick of your fair-weather friend's dual personality, perhaps you should throw down your glove and challenge him to a duel at high noon. Dual, which dates from the early 1600s, is borrowed from the Latin dualis, from duo, for two.

What is the purpose of dueling?

Duels were fought not so much to kill the opponent as to gain "satisfaction", that is, to restore one's honor by demonstrating a willingness to risk one's life for it, and as such the tradition of dueling was originally reserved for the male members of nobility; however, in the modern era, it extended to those of the upper classes generally.

What is a duel in chivalry?

A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules. Duels in this form were chiefly practiced in early modern Europe with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period (19th to early 20th centuries) especially among military officers.