■ noun chiefly historical a prearranged contest with deadly weapons between two people to settle a point of honour.
↘(in modern use) a contest between two parties.
■ verb ( ~s , ~ling , ~led ; US ~s , ~ing , ~ed ) fight a ~.
Derivatives
~ler ( US ~er ) noun
~list ( US ~ist ) noun
Origin
C15: from L. ~lum , archaic and literary form of bellum 'war', used in med. L. with the meaning 'combat between two persons', influenced by dualis 'of two'.