dual English · revision 6822

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1607|origins=la duo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdul/, /ˈd(j)u.əl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|duālis|t=containing two]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|duo|t=two]], from PIE [[ine-pro|*dwóh₁|alt=*dwo-|t=two]] (see [[two]]).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Barnhart notes that Latin duālis is thought to be Quintilian's translation of Greek [[grc|δυϊκός|tr=duïkós]], in the term for the dual number.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In grammar, the form or number denoting two: 1607 in Barnhart and the OED,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) about 1600 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) MWU has 1597.^(MWU 2024) As a noun, a name for the two middle incisor teeth, it is late Middle English (1541 in the OED), long obsolete.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The general sense, composed of two parts, twofold, is from the 1650s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The noun, the dual number in grammar, is from 1650.^(OED 1989) In chess problems a dual is an unintended alternative move by White (1875).^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) A ''dual carriageway'', a road with separate lanes for each direction, is from 1933, and the verb, to make a road into one, from 1959.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1541 – the incisor teeth (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1607 – the dual number.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1654 – twofold, double.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1875 – in chess problems.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1933 – dual carriageway.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of two parts, often alike or complementary; [[double]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Having a double character or purpose.^(AHD)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Of a number category denoting two persons or things, as in [[Greek]], [[Sanskrit]] and Old English.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(grammar)'' The dual number, or a word in it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dually]]

+ * [[dualistic]]

+ * [[dualize]]

+ * [[dualism]]

+ * [[duality]]

+ * [[dual-purpose]]

+ * [[dual citizen]]

+ * [[dual citizenship]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[two]]

+ * [[duet]]

+ * [[double]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}