duel
du·el/ˈdul/noun, verb
duel is spelled D-U-E-L: 4 letters and 2 syllables (du·el). It appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “dual vs duel” about 1,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, duel means “Arranged, regular combat between two private persons, often over a matter of honor” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of duel is duels.
How many letters and syllables are in duel?
| Letters | 4: D-U-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: du·el |
| In writing | 4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is duel?
Duel appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce duel?
- /ˈˈd͡ʒuːəl/
- /ˈdjuːəl/
- US /ˈdul/
Duel has 2 syllables, split du·el in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-dual.ogg, En-us-duel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with duel
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: dual, jewel (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: duelling.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with duel?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as duel from its last stressed vowel (/ul/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lude.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of duel
- duels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- dueling US, participle, present
- duelling UK, participle, present
- dueled US, participle, past
- duelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does duel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Arranged, regular combat between two private persons, often over a matter of honor.
- 2
Historically, the wager of battle (judicial combat).
- 3
Any battle or struggle between two contending persons, forces, groups, or ideas.
a sniper duel
verb
- 1
To engage in a battle.
The two dogs were duelling for the bone.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Duel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | duel , croiser le fer |
| German | Duell, Zweikampf , duellieren |
| Portuguese | duelo , duelar |
| Spanish | duelo , combatir en duelo, batirse, duelear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does duel come from?
From Medieval Latin duellum (“fight between two men, duel”), itself from Old Latin duellum (“war, fight”), which survived in Classical Latin as a rare byform of bellum and was later reinterpreted as “duel” by unetymological association with duo (“two”). May have entered English through Middle French duel.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).