Duet Meaning
/djuˈɛt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA musical composition in two parts, each performed by a single voice (singer, instrument or univoce ensemble).
nounA song composed for and/or performed by a duo.
Sentence Examples
Tom sang a duet with Mary.
The sisters played a duet on the violin and piano.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The soprano and tenor sang a beautiful ____ during the opera.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Tom sang a ____ with Mary.
Word Origin & History
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Italian duetto (“short musical composition for two voices”), diminutive of due (“two”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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..."
— 2005, James Henderson, Caribbean and the Bahamas:
"He was about as accordantly coupled with Dr. Middleton in discourse as a drum duetting with a bass-viol […]"
— 1879, George Meredith, chapter 20, in The Egoist:
"‘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."
— 2011, Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending, Random House Canada, page 45:
"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."
— 1986, Thomas A. Sebeok, chapter 7, in I Think I Am a Verb: More Contributions to the Doctrine of Signs, New York: Springer Science+Business, published 2013, page 87:
"Peena and Queena are duetting a giggle-for-giggle […]"
— 1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960, →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The soprano and tenor sang a beautiful ____ during the opera.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Tom sang a ____ with Mary.