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Synonyms

duet

American  
[doo-et, dyoo-] / duˈɛt, dyu- /

noun

  1. a musical composition for two voices or instruments.


duet British  
/ djuːˈɛt /

noun

  1. Also called (esp for instrumental compositions): duo.  a musical composition for two performers or voices

  2. an action or activity performed by a pair of closely connected individuals

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (intr) to perform a duet

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of duet

1730–40; earlier duett < Italian duetto, equivalent to du ( o ) duet + -etto -et

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Explanation

A duet is two people singing or playing musical instruments together. You and your brother might be a popular sidewalk duet with your fiddle-accordion combo. If you have tickets for a musical duet, you'll be watching and listening to two performers. You can also call the composition that's written for the two of them a duet, since it has parts for two instruments. Two dancers can also perform a duet, a dance especially choreographed for a couple. Duet stems from the Italian duetto, "musical composition for two voices," from duo, or "two."

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Vocabulary lists containing duet

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.

It is part of the force's ongoing Operation Duet - two separate investigations into corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter at the hospital.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

It will compete with other corporate chatbots, including Copilot, Google’s Duet AI and ChatGPT Enterprise.

From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2023

Partners on his popular "Duet" albums ranged from former Beatle Paul McCartney and soul queen Aretha Franklin to country star Willie Nelson and U2's Bono.

From Reuters • Jul. 21, 2023

Alphabet announced still more updates on Wednesday to draw business customers, such as a computer programming assistant called Duet AI for Google Cloud, with a model it named Codey.

From Reuters • May 11, 2023

On the 2d of March she played a Fantasie sur Lucrezia Borgia by Stanton, the Souvenir des Pyrenees by Alard, a Duet from William Tell, for violin and piano and repeated the Vieuxtemps Fantasie caprice.

From Camilla: A Tale of a Violin Being the Artist Life of Camilla Urso by Barnard, Charles

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