duumvirate

English

Alternative forms

• duovirate

Etymology

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /djuːˈʌmvɪɹət/

Noun

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.

Related terms

• duumvir
• duumviral

Translations

Roman offices

• Danish: duumvirat n
• Dutch: duümviraat n
• French: duumvirat (fr) m
• German: Duumvirat (de) n
• Italian: duunvirato m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: duumvirat n

• Portuguese: duunvirato m
• Swedish: duumvirat n