A formal, often deadly, fight to settle a dispute or avenge an insult, especially in historical or samurai contexts.
He ended up fighting a duel with his enemy.
I can't be late to the place of the duel.
Standard kanji spelling.
Variant with 果し instead of 果たし; less common but still used.
Compound of 果たし (masu-stem of 果たす, 'to accomplish, carry out') + 合い (continuative of 合う, 'mutually'), literally 'mutual accomplishment', referring to a decisive confrontation.