What’s the difference between 決闘 and 勝負


I noticed that 決闘 and 勝負 are both translated as “duel” but I wondered if there
are any underlying differences in meaning between the two words.




決闘 specifically refers to [this tradition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duel)
to protect one's honor, fought with rapiers, pistols or such. It usually ends
with one of the participant's death. Basically this is something in the past
(at least in developed countries), and you won't see this outside of wild-west
movies or dramas set in the middle ages. This kind of dueling was mainly
practiced in Europe and the US, and the word 決闘 also typically refers to
Western ones. Japanese samurais also occasionally did similar things, but they
may tend to be called 果たし合い.

勝負 is a much broader term that encompasses "match", "game", "(card game)
duel", etc.

