Standard Lemma guide

dualism

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D UW1 AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Duality; the condition of being double.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The view that the world consists of, or is explicable in terms of, two fundamental principles, such as mind and matter or good and evil.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces, such as good and evil; the belief that man has two basic natures, the physical and the spiritual.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: lifestyle, religion, theology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The legal doctrine that international law must be transposed into domestic law to have effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: international law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The theory, originated by Lavoisier and developed by Berzelius, that all definite compounds are binary in their nature, and consist of two distinct constituents, themselves simple or complex, and having opposite chemical or electrical affinities.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, dated, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the doctrine that reality consists of two basic opposing elements, often taken to be mind and matter (or mind and body), or good and evil

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: doctrine, philosophy, philosophical system, school of thought, ism

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English dual Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English dualism From dual + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: dualisme — the condition of being double
  • French: dualité — the condition of being double
  • Indonesian: dualisme — the condition of being double
  • Kazakh: дуализм (dualizm) — the condition of being double
  • Korean: 이중성 (ijungseong) — the condition of being double
  • Occitan: dualisme — the condition of being double
  • Occitan: dualitat — the condition of being double
  • Polish: dualizm — the condition of being double
  • Serbo-Croatian: dualizam — the condition of being double
  • Spanish: dualismo — the condition of being double
  • Spanish: dualidad — the condition of being double
  • Arabic: ثَنَوِيَّة (ṯanawiyya) — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Azerbaijani: dualizm — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Azerbaijani: ikilik — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Catalan: dualisme — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Chinese: 二元论 (èryuánlùn) — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Czech: dualismus — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Dutch: dualisme — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Esperanto: dualismo — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • German: Dualismus — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Hungarian: dualizmus — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Korean: 이원론 (iwonnon) — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Malay: dualisme — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Occitan: dualisme — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Polish: dualizm — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Serbo-Croatian: dualizam — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Spanish: dualismo — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Swedish: dualism — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Telugu: ద్వైతము (dvaitamu) — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Thai: ทวินิยม — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Turkish: düalizm — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Turkish: ikicilik — the view that the world consists of two fundamental principles
  • Arabic: ثَنَوِيَّة (ṯanawiyya) — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces
  • Catalan: dualisme — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces
  • Czech: dualismus — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces
  • Esperanto: dualismo — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces
  • French: dualisme — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces
  • Occitan: dualisme — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces
  • Polish: dualizm — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces
  • Serbo-Croatian: dualizam — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces
  • Spanish: dualismo — the belief that the world is ruled by a pair of antagonistic forces