duellumn.
/ˈdjuːələm/, /ˈdʒuːələm/, U.S. /ˈd(j)uələm/ Now historical and rare.
A duel (esp. in sense 1).
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > trying or hearing of cause > [noun] > trial > trial by combat
judgementc1300
duelc1475
combat1567
duellum1596
trial1597
duel-trial1631
1596 Vlysses vpon Aiax sig. D The two Heroicall and manly Knights fought there Duellum.
1600 Abp. G. Abbot Expos. Prophet Ionah 550 How many lawes did Moses make, but none for the duellum or combat betweene two?
1694 ‘Philonomus’ Young Lawyer's Recreation 62 There is a Duellum allowed by Law depending a Suit for the Trial of Truth.
1789 Lounger's Misc. 7 Feb. 91 It is a received opinion, that the duellum..was originally a military institution.
1828 N. Amer. Rev. Apr. 501 Though they persue not the duellum as a business, and still less as an amusement, [they] persuade themselves that it is..a necessary evil.
1879 John Bull 27 Dec. 833/4 The old Teuton chance medley of ordeals, the duellum, and compurgation gave place to testimony and the precedents of our law courts.
1959 Huntington Libr. Q. 22 143 The grand assize enabled the sitting tenant to decline the duellum in favour of the verdict of a jury.
2006 Speculum 81 428 The duellum..was, for hundreds of years, one of the most popular methods of determining justice in certain cases.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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