Wiktionary

duet

See also: Duet, düet, Due̩t, and Duët

English

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Etymology

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PIE word
*dwóh₁

From Italian duetto (“short musical composition for two voices”), diminutive of due (“two”).

Pronunciation

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English numbers (edit)
 ←  1 2 3  → [a], [b]
    Cardinal: two
    Ordinal: second
    Latinate ordinal: secondary
    Reverse order ordinal: second to last, second from last, last but one
    Latinate reverse order ordinal: penultimate
    Adverbial: two times, twice
    Multiplier: twofold
    Latinate multiplier: double
    Distributive: doubly
    Germanic collective: pair, twosome
    Collective of n parts: doublet, couple, couplet
    Greek or Latinate collective: dyad
    Metric collective prefix: double-
    Greek collective prefix: di-, duo-
    Latinate collective prefix: bi-
    Fractional: half
    Metric fractional prefix: demi-
    Latinate fractional prefix: semi-
    Greek fractional prefix: hemi-
    Elemental: twin, doublet
    Greek prefix: deutero-
    Number of musicians: duo, duet, duplet
    Number of years: biennium

Noun

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duet (plural duets)

  1. (music) A musical composition in two parts, each performed by a single voice (singer, instrument or univoce ensemble).
  2. (music) A song composed for and/or performed by a duo.
  3. A pair or couple, especially one that is harmonious or elegant.
    • 2005, James Henderson, Caribbean and the Bahamas:
      The fare is Caribbean with an Asian touch — millefeuille of sun-dried tomato, Paris mushrooms and chargrilled local asparagus followed by a duet of chicken and shrimp...

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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duet (third-person singular simple present duets, present participle duetting or dueting, simple past and past participle duetted or dueted)

  1. (intransitive) To perform a duet.
    • 1822, Lord Byron, Letter to Mr. Moore, Pisa, July 12, 1822, in The Letters of George Gordon Byron, edited by Mathilde Blind, London: Walter Scott, 1887, p. 277, [1]
      When you can spare time from duetting, coquetting, and claretting with your Hibernians of both sexes, let me have a line from you.
    • 1879, George Meredith, chapter 20, in The Egoist‎[2]:
      He was about as accordantly coupled with Dr. Middleton in discourse as a drum duetting with a bass-viol […]
    • 2011, Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending, Random House Canada, page 45:
      ‘Ti-yi-yi-yime is on my side, yes it is,’ I used to yodel, duetting with Mick Jagger as I gyrated alone in my student room.
  2. (intransitive, zoology, of pairs of animals) To communicate (warnings, mating calls, etc.) through song.
    • 1975, Edward O. Wilson, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, Belknap Press, p. 223,
      Duetting species are typically monogamous.
    • 1986, Thomas A. Sebeok, chapter 7, in I Think I Am a Verb: More Contributions to the Doctrine of Signs‎[3], New York: Springer Science+Business, published 2013, page 87:
      In several dozen species of birds there has been found a phenomenon known as duetting, or antiphonal singing: the first part of a song is executed by one partner of a pair, then the other partner very promptly chimes in to sing the second part.
  3. (transitive) To perform (sing, play, etc.) as a duet.
  4. (transitive) (of two people) To say at the same time, to chorus.
    • 1864, Charles Whitehead, “The Stock-Broker”, in Heads of the People: or, Portraits of the English‎[5], volume I, London: Henry G. Bohn, page 23:
      “My dear papa!” duetted the girls; but there was something in the husband and father's face, that told the three ladies it would be worse than useless to raise that question at present.
    • 1884, Anonymous, A Speculation, Denver: D. M. Richards, Chapter 12, p. 50, [6]
      “A bear!” exclaimed the Major, jumping up and coming forward.
      “A bear!” dueted the Doctor and Right Rev., pressing hastily to the front.

Usage notes

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  • In the UK and other Commonwealth countries, the present and past participles of this verb are often spelled with a double T: duetted and duetting

See also

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Anagrams

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian duetto or German Duett (itself borrowed from Italian).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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duet n (plural duetten, diminutive duetje n)

  1. a duet (musical piece performed by two players or two singers)
  2. a ballet routine performed by two dancers

Descendants

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  • Afrikaans: duet
  • → Indonesian: duet
  • → West Frisian: duët

Indonesian

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Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Etymology

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From Dutch duet, from Italian duetto or German Duett (itself borrowed from Italian).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈd̪uɛt̪̚]
  • Hyphenation: du‧èt

Noun

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duet (uncountable)

  1. duet (musical piece performed by two players or two singers).

Further reading

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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duet

  1. simple past and present perfect of due

Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Borrowed from German Duett, from Italian duetto.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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duet m inan (diminutive duecik)

  1. (music) duet (group of two musicians)
    Synonym: duo
  2. (music) duet (piece of music written for two musicians)
    Synonym: duo
  3. duet (group of two people or things)
    Synonym: duo

Declension

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Declension of duet
singular plural
nominative duet duety
genitive duetu duetów
dative duetowi duetom
accusative duet duety
instrumental duetem duetami
locative duecie duetach
vocative duecie duety

Further reading

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  • duet in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • duet in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian duetto.

Noun

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duet n (plural duete)

  1. (music) duet

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative duet duetul duete duetele
genitive-dative duet duetului duete duetelor
vocative duetule duetelor
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  NODES
Note 3