duumvirate

plural duumvirates · alternative diumvirate · alternative duovirate

1. The office of the Roman duumvirs or (hence) of any two people in authority; a dyarchy; the rule or authority of two people, especially two men.First known use 17th c.

   This was to raise the prospect of a duumvirate – ‘two heads in the same hat’, as Bernis quaintly put it.

   2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 241

2. A pair of leaders or officials; (loosely) two people (especially men) linked together in some way.First known use 18th c.

   Of what did the duumvirate deliberate during their itinerary?

   1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 17: Ithaca]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 619

   1 more example

   To replace the all-powerful Salan, de Gaulle appointed a duumvirate – Paul Delouvrier and General Maurice Challe.

   1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 310