noun · 3 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.
Received-Pronunciation:/djuːˈɒpəli/
Received-Pronunciation:/duː-/
General-American:/duˈɑpəli/
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ɒpəli
CMU ARPABET:D UW1 OW0 P AA2 L IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:D Y UW0 AA1 P AH0 L IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An economic condition in which two sellers exert most control over the market of a commodity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: economics, sciences
Examples
Modern examples of duopoly include the American markets for credit cards (Visa and MasterCard), smartphones (Apple and Google), soft drinks (Coca-Cola and Pepsi), and airplanes (Airbus and Boeing).
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The domination of a field of endeavour by two entities or people.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable
Examples
First past the post voting has long maintained American politics as an effective duopoly where power simply alternates between two main parties.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A situation in which two or more radio or television stations in the same city or community share common ownership.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable
Topics: broadcasting, media
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: twinstick
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
PIE word *dwóh1 From duo- (prefix meaning ‘two’) + -poly (suffix meaning ‘pertaining to the number of sellers in a market’), by analogy with monopoly.
Across languages
Translations
47 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
احتكار ثنائي
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Azerbaijani:
duopoliya
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Basque:
duopolio
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Bulgarian:
дуополия
(duopolija)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Bulgarian:
дуопол
(duopol)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Catalan:
duopoli
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Chinese Mandarin:
雙頭壟斷 /双头垄断
(shuāngtóu lǒngduàn)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Danish:
duopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Finnish:
duopoli
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
French:
duopole
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Galician:
duopolio
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Georgian:
დუოპოლია
(duoṗolia)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
German:
Duopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
German:
Dyopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Greek:
δυοπώλιο
(dyopólio)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Hebrew:
דואופול
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Hindi:
द्वयाधिकार
(dvayādhikār)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Hungarian:
duopólium
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Indonesian:
duopoli
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Italian:
duopolio
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Japanese:
複占
(fukusen)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Kannada:
ದ್ವಿಸ್ವಾಮ್ಯ
(dvisvāmya)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Kazakh:
дуополия
(duopoliä)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Khmer:
ទោវិក្កយភាព
(toovikkɑɑyphiəp)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Korean:
복점
(bokjeom)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Macedonian:
ду́опол
(dúopol)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Malay:
duopoli
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Norwegian Bokmål:
duopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Persian:
انحصار دوگانه فروش
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Polish:
duopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Portuguese:
duopólio
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Romanian:
duopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Russian:
дуопо́лия
(duopólija)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Serbo-Croatian:
ду̏опол
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Serbo-Croatian:
dȕopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Spanish:
duopolio
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Swedish:
duopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Turkish:
düopol
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Ukrainian:
дуопо́лія
(duopólija)
— economic condition in which two sellers exert (most of the) control over the market of a commodity
Finnish:
duopoli
— domination of a field of endeavour by two entities or people
Macedonian:
ду́опол
(dúopol)
— domination of a field of endeavour by two entities or people
Serbo-Croatian:
ду̏опол
— domination of a field of endeavour by two entities or people
Serbo-Croatian:
dȕopol
— domination of a field of endeavour by two entities or people
Finnish:
duopoli
— situation in which two or more radio or television stations in the same city or community share common ownership
Macedonian:
ду́опол
(dúopol)
— situation in which two or more radio or television stations in the same city or community share common ownership
Serbo-Croatian:
ду̏опол
— situation in which two or more radio or television stations in the same city or community share common ownership
Serbo-Croatian:
dȕopol
— situation in which two or more radio or television stations in the same city or community share common ownership