dupliciter

Forms

dupliciter (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin duplex + -ter,^[2] the adverb of duplex (“double”).^[3] De Vaan takes duplex as the model of the compounds in -plex, with ⟨du-⟩ from duo (“two”), and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *dui-plḱ- (“twofold”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus, in the Miles gloriosus, where a character is told that death is prepared for him in two ways.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant “in two ways, on two counts”: Cicero writes that he was doubly delighted by a letter, because he had laughed himself and because he saw that his friend could still laugh.^[2] Lucretius uses it of clouds that send out moisture in two ways.^[2] It also meant “into two parts”, of a division into two categories, as in the Rhetorica ad Herennium and in Quintilian,^[2] and in Terentianus Maurus “twice over”.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the Miles gloriosus.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of clouds.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes that he was doubly delighted.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Doubly, in two ways, on two counts.^[2][3]
2. Into two parts or categories.^[2]
3. Twice over.^[2]

Related words

• duplex
• duplicitas

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de