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.

---

duumvir British  

/ djuːˈʌmvə /

noun

1. Roman history one of two coequal magistrates or officers

2. either of two men who exercise a joint authority

---

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 ( werewolf )

Example Sentences

The central temple is believed to be that of Piety, built by M. Acilius Glabrio, the duumvir, in B.C.

From Project Gutenberg

On the hillside stood a Temple of Mars, vowed in the Gallic war, and dedicated by T. Quinctius the "duumvir sacris faciundis," in B.C.

From Project Gutenberg

In such a case the presiding duumvir was to nominate the required number, they in turn an equal number, and the combined nominees had to designate a third set equal in number to themselves.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

The citizens record on many a tablet their gratitude to patron or duumvir or augustal, or to some simple old centurion, returned from far frontier camps, who had paved their promenade, or restored their baths, or given them a shrine of Neptune or Silvanus.

From Project Gutenberg