duumvir

American  

[doo-uhm-ver, dyoo-] / duˈʌm vər, dyu- /

noun

Roman History.

plural

duumvirs, duumviri

1. one of two officers or magistrates jointly exercising the same public function.

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duumvir British  

/ djuːˈʌmvə /

noun

1. Roman history one of two coequal magistrates or officers

2. either of two men who exercise a joint authority

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Etymology

Origin of duumvir

1590–1600; < Latin, back formation from duumvirōrum, genitive plural of duovirī two men, equivalent to duo- duo- + virī, plural of vir man, cognate with Old English wer ( see werewolf)

Example Sentences

Presently one of his pupils, as if he were præco to the duumvir, cries out, ‘Hush, gentlemen, hush! the godlike’—no, it is not that.

From Callista : a Tale of the Third Century by Newman, John Henry

The duumvir is discreet; what I am to do, where go to find my fleet, he will tell on the ship, where a sealed package is waiting me.

From Ben-Hur; a tale of the Christ by Wallace, Lewis

Caius Servilius, duumvir, also dedicated a temple of Jupiter, in the island.

From The History of Rome, Books 27 to 36 by Livius, Titus

But in return for its liabilities, the position of a duumvir gave undoubted power and distinction.

From Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Dill, Samuel

They announce that a duumvir or aedile or flamen will exhibit twenty or thirty pairs of combatants on the calends of May or the ides of April.

From Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Dill, Samuel