Etymologically
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double

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Pronunciation

Forms

double (adjective, plural doubles); double m (noun)[1] Old French dobpla (late 10th century, feminine), duble (11th century), doble.[2][3][4]

Etymology

The adjective is inherited from Old French doble, inherited from Latin duplus (“twice as large, double”), and the noun continues its neuter duplum (“twice as much”).[2][3][5][4][6] The Latin adjective is formed on duo (“two”) (see deux); most of its senses are shared by duplex (see duplex).[3][4] Littré took the second element to represent plicō (“to fold”).[7]

Cognate with Italian doppio, Old Occitan doble, Catalan doble, Spanish doble and Portuguese dobro.[5][8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion of Clermont-Ferrand (late 10th century) has dobpla corda “double cord”, in the sense “repeated twice, twice as much”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Guillaume le Clerc's Bestiaire (about 1210) has home doble “a deceitful man”, and Pascal (1657–62) double sens, a thing with two aspects of which only one appears.[2][3] From the end of the 16th century it also expresses intensity: double bière (1551), Molière's double bourreau (1655).[2][3]

As a noun it is first the quantity twice another (about 1150), with au double (about 1170) and en double (1461).[2] It named a coin (1340; compare doublon), a fold of cloth (late 14th century, Froissart) and a copy of a document (1406); later an understudy in the theatre (1771), a person's spirit double (Balzac, 1831) and an alter ego (1832).[2][3] Jouer à quitte ou double dates from about 1465 and the tennis doubles from 1929, double-aveugle (about 1965) is a calque of English double-blind.[2][3]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Dobpla, Passion of Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1150 – The noun “twice as much”.[2]
  • c. 1210 – “Deceitful”, Guillaume le Clerc.[2]
  • 1340 – A coin.[2]
  • 1406 – “Copy”, Nicolas de Baye.[2]
  • 1461 – En double.[2]
  • c. 1465 – Jouer à quitte et à double.[2]
  • 1657–62 – Double sens, Pascal.[2]
  • 1771 – Understudy in the theatre.[2]
  • 1832 – “Alter ego”, Balzac.[2]
  • 1929 – Doubles in tennis.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. double, twice as much or as large; repeated twice, made of two like parts: double nœud, fermer à double tour, en double exemplaire.[9][10]
  2. Having two aspects or uses: à double sens, à double tranchant, mener une double vie.[9][1]
  3. (figurative) Two-faced, agent double, double agent, jouer double jeu.[2][1]

Noun

  1. Twice the amount: coûter le double, en double, in duplicate.[9][1]
  2. A copy, duplicate: le double d'une clé.[2][1]
  3. A person's lookalike, alter ego; an understudy.[2][3]
  4. (tennis) Doubles.[2][3]
  5. Quitte ou double: double or quits.[2][1]

Adverb

  1. Twice, doubly: voir double.[3][9]

Word family

  • doubler
  • doublement
  • doublure
  • doublon
  • dédoubler
  • redoubler

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 185a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse