Standard Lemma guide

duopoly

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