Context : Massive Wolf-Rayet ( WR ) stars dominate the radiative and mechanical energy budget of galaxies and probe a critical phase in the evolution of massive stars prior to core collapse . It is not known whether core He-burning WR stars ( classical WR ; cWR ) form predominantly through wind stripping ( w-WR ) or binary stripping ( b-WR ) . Whereas spectroscopy of WR binaries has so-far largely been avoided because of its complexity , our study focuses on the 44 WR binaries and binary candidates of the Large Magellanic Cloud ( LMC ; metallicity Z \approx 0.5 Z _ { \odot } ) , which were identified on the basis of radial velocity variations , composite spectra , or high X-ray luminosities . Aims : Relying on a diverse spectroscopic database , we aim to derive the physical and orbital parameters of our targets , confronting evolution models of evolved massive stars at subsolar metallicity and constraining the impact of binary interaction in forming these stars . Methods : Spectroscopy was performed using the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet ( PoWR ) code and cross-correlation techniques . Disentanglement was performed using the code Spectangular or the shift-and-add algorithm . Evolutionary status was interpreted using the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis ( BPASS ) code , exploring binary interaction and chemically homogeneous evolution . Results : Among our sample , 28/44 objects show composite spectra and are analyzed as such . An additional five targets show periodically moving WR primaries but no detected companions ( SB1 ) ; two ( BAT99 99 and 112 ) are potential WR + compact-object candidates owing to their high X-ray luminosities . We can not confirm the binary nature of the remaining 11 candidates . About two-thirds of the WN components in binaries are identified as cWR , and one-third as hydrogen-burning WR stars . We establish metallicity-dependent mass-loss recipes , which broadly agree with those recently derived for single WN stars , and in which so-called WN3/O3 stars are clear outliers . We estimate that 45 { \pm } 30 \% of the cWR stars in our sample have interacted with a companion via mass transfer . However , only { \approx } 12 { \pm } 7 \% of the cWR stars in our sample naively appear to have formed purely owing to stripping via a companion ( 12 % b-WR ) . Assuming that apparently single WR stars truly formed as single stars , this comprises \approx 4 \% of the whole LMC WN population , which is about ten times less than expected . No obvious differences in the properties of single and binary WN stars , whose luminosities extend down to \log L { \approx } 5.2 [ L _ { \odot } ] , are apparent . With the exception of a few systems ( BAT99 19 , 49 , and 103 ) , the equatorial rotational velocities of the OB-type companions are moderate ( v _ { \text } { eq } \lesssim 250 km { s } ^ { -1 } ) and challenge standard formalisms of angular-momentum accretion . For most objects , chemically homogeneous evolution can be rejected for the secondary , but not for the WR progenitor . Conclusions : No obvious dichotomy in the locations of apparently single and binary WN stars on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is apparent . According to commonly used stellar evolution models ( BPASS , Geneva ) , most apparently single WN stars could not have formed as single stars , implying that they were stripped by an undetected companion . Otherwise , it must follow that pre-WR mass-loss/mixing ( e.g. , during the red supergiant phase ) are strongly underestimated in standard stellar evolution models .