各类比赛中的“德比大战”到底指什么？

英超赛场近日上演曼彻斯特德比大战，结果曼城主场1比0战胜曼联，取得德比四连胜。体育比赛的报道中，我们经常会看到“德比”这个词，它到底什么来历，又是指什么呢？

In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby means a sporting fixture between two teams from the same town, city or region, particularly in association football.

在很多国家，本地德比（local derby）或者德比（derby）都指来自同一个小镇、城市或地区的两支队伍之间的体育比赛，尤多见于足球联赛。

A soccer game between two rival teams is also sometimes referred to as a "derby." A derby is the soccer equivalent of the sort of game that is called a "crosstown rivalry" in North American sports.

两支相互竞争的球队之间的足球比赛有时也叫做德比。足球比赛中的德比相当于北美体育比赛中的“同城竞技”。

The phrase most likely originated from The Derby, a horse race in England, founded by the 12th Earl of Derby in 1780, since at least as early as 1840 'derby' has been used as a noun in English to denote any kind of sporting contest.

德比这个说法很有可能来源于1780年第12世德比伯爵在英格兰开创的赛马活动The Derby。早在1840年时，德比一词就在英语里用作名词来指代任何一种体育比赛。

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen）