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up vote 8 down vote favorite

Here dilogy is defined as "a series of two related works". I can't shake off the feeling that there is a more commonly used word for this. Is there? If yes, what is it?

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4  
Duology is much more commonly used, but that is a miscegenous word mixing a Latin prefix with a Greek root, and such words obviously must be avoided, even at the cost of making oneself incomprehensible. ;-) – Peter Shor Nov 11 '12 at 23:45
Yep, that's helpful. Apparently this is as good as it gets: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilogy#Other_numbered_series – zespri Nov 11 '12 at 23:53
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An unfinished Trilogy? ;) – Matthew Crumley Nov 12 '12 at 14:05
What is it for just one? – Mitch Nov 12 '12 at 22:27

5 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

A duology is a pair of related novels, plays or films.

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+1 to this because it's what popped into my mind, and is the most likely one of the answers so far a layperson will both recognize as a word and understand the meaning of (do to the prevalence of "trilogy") – Izkata Nov 12 '12 at 3:29
up vote 9 down vote

"diptych", sense 3 : a work made up of two matching parts (ref: Merriam-Webster).

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up vote 6 down vote

Two works do not a series make. In fact, two of anything do not a series make.

Carlo, however, has the correct answer here: it’s a diptych, which is like a triptych but with two pieces instead of three. Wikipedia has a brief article on it.

Here is more about its etymology, from the OED:

Latin diptycha (pl.), a. late Greek δίπτυχα pair of writing-tablets, neut. pl. of δίπτυχος double-folded, f. δι-, δίς twice + πτυχή fold. Cf. mod. French diptyque, C. 1700 in Hatz.-Darm.

Diptych does enjoy some currency as a work comprising two halves. For example:

The 2nd, and darker portion, of this volume devotes most of its space to lamentations for the poets estranged daughter, for his deceased parents, and for a enigmatic hell-raiser of a perplexing but beloved cat, a very human quadruped. — Diptych: Voyage to Ernie Spirit, Swell a Large Lament and Other Fictions

Furthermore, award-winning author Dan Simmons often refers to his two-volume stories as diptychs, such as the Ilium and Olympos pair. For example, from Dan’s own website:

Page 284 This long quote from Marcel Proust–which figures twice in the text, here and on page 459–comes from LE CÔTÉ DE GUERMANTES. This might be the crux of the ILIUM/OLYMPOS diptych, if not of Dan’s entire œuvre.

And it’s not just Simmons. Here is one critic writing about another pair of novels of Dan’s:

[A] Simmons fan will note that a similar problem affected the Endymion diptych: The first volume wasn’t terribly useful, but the second one was the whole point of the setup. — [citation]

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In Art History, both diptych and especially triptych are used to refer to two or three panels or leaves of a painted work. I have seen diptych used to describe two related works of fiction by the same author, though it isn't common. The reason it isn't common is because it isn't standard usage in publishing or literature to refer to two books as a series. Ouvre might work if both were published as one volume, but that's more formal and should be used with care so as to avoid pretense. – Feral Oink Nov 12 '12 at 10:49
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@FeralOink: If you mean oeuvre, it's more commonly used to refer to a writer's total output; best avoided, if only to reduce confusion. – TimLymington Nov 12 '12 at 14:23
@TimLymington Yes, yes! That is what I meant! Oeuvre, as a body of work. If the entire output were two works, then it could be used, but that is unlikely and rather a special case. Thank you! – Feral Oink Nov 13 '12 at 14:33
up vote 3 down vote

Dyad is commonly used for pairs of things. Here is a dyad of definitions:

There's a whole set of related words with increasing valence: monad, dyad, triad, tetrad, pentad, hexad, etc.

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The second definition is a great resource, however, it explicitly states that it uses Webster's 1828 and 1913 versions, and doesn't contain modern usages of language. The first link is good, but it confirmed my impression that dyad is used for two of something in chemistry or astronomy etc., with no explicit mention of two books or works of literature. – Feral Oink Nov 12 '12 at 10:56
@Feral: Sure, for literature I'd go with the more specific duology, but the original question does not expressly mention books or works of literature. – Wayfaring Stranger Nov 12 '12 at 14:00
Yes, I did mean literature, but did not mention it in the question, so you are quite right. – zespri Nov 12 '12 at 23:25
up vote 0 down vote

A common pair of words in usage is prequel and sequel.

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That would require a third work in-between. – RegDwighт♦ Nov 12 '12 at 11:10
I do not think that that word means what you think it means. – tchrist Nov 12 '12 at 15:17
@RegDwighт: I agree, good point! – KeyBrd Basher Nov 14 '12 at 10:41

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