duo
noun
duet.
duo
1 American
[doo-oh, dyoo-oh]
/ ˈdu oʊ, ˈdju oʊ /
noun
duos
plural
-
Music. duet.
-
two persons commonly associated with each other; couple.
-
two animals or objects of the same sort; two things ordinarily placed or found together; a pair.
a duo of lovebirds.
duo-
2
American
duo
1
British
/ ˈdjuːəʊ /
noun
-
music
-
a pair of performers
-
another word for duet
-
-
a pair of actors, entertainers, etc
-
informal a pair of closely connected individuals
duo-
2
British
combining form
Usage
What does duo- mean? Duo- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “two.” It is occasionally used in technical terms. Duo- comes from Greek dýo and Latin duo, both meaning “two.” In fact, English’s own word two is related to these roots! Learn more at our entry at two.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of duo1
1580–90; < Italian < Latin: two
Origin of duo-2
Combining form of Greek dýo, Latin duo two
Compare meaning
How does duo compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A duo is a pair of things or people. Batman and Robin are a famous dynamic duo, but a duo is any two people doing something together, not just crime fighting. In fact, a duo usually entertains. You can complain that you can't find a duo of matching socks, but it's more common to use duo for people who perform together. For example, Penn and Teller are a magician duo, and Laurel and Hardy were a comedy duo. If you and your sister play your ukuleles together in the subway for tips, you're also a duo. Originally, a duo was a song written for two voices, from the Latin meaning of duo, "two."
Vocabulary lists containing duo
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The team behind the app credit the owl, Duo, with helping attract more than 20 million followers across TikTok and Instagram.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
The “Amen” singer also acknowledged that winning his Grammy on “the first day of Black History Month and becoming the first Black man to win Best Country Duo is Black history.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 4, 2026
And some questions remain on the potential for self-managed customers to upgrade in order to take advantage of the Duo Agent platform.
From Barron's • Dec. 6, 2025
Finally, by cross-referencing my room type and date of stay, she identified my holy grail as the Hotel Bellazure Duo Down Soft Feather Pillow, which I promptly ordered online for $95.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 1, 2025
Duo, dū′o, n. a song in two parts.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
