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Original · left

Battle royal (fight)

A fight between many combatants, with the last one standing declared the winner.

First in use: the 1600s
Duplicate · right

Battle royale game

An online multiplayer genre in which many players fight on a shrinking map until one player or team remains.

First in use: c. 2017

Battle royale / Battle royal (fight) / Battle royale game

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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

A last-one-standing brawl became the genre of Fortnite and PUBG.

Which meaning of Battle royale is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Battle royal (fight) came first (the 1600s). Battle royale game arrived in 2017. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Battle royal (fight)Battle royale game
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1600s

Battle royal (fight)

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Duplicate · c. 2017

Battle royale game

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