Etymologically
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duplico

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdʊ.plɪ.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈduː.pli.ko][1]

Forms

duplicō (present infinitive duplicāre, perfect active duplicāvī, supine duplicātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin duplex (“double, twofold”) + -ō.[2][1][3] De Vaan notes that duplex is one of the compounds in which Latin replaced the old prefix *dwi- with du-, from duo (“two”), which he traces to Proto-Indo-European *du-o-h₁ (“two”).[4] Etymonline analyses the verb as "two" and plicō (“to fold”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first: something will double every theft.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to double in number, amount or duration, sometimes loosely of any large increase: Cicero speaks of doubling the number of days, and Caesar and Tacitus use it of numbers.[2][6] It is also to put two in the place of one, as when Cicero says a case is doubled.[2] Virgil uses it of doubling up or bending: a spear driven through the shoulders doubles a man over with pain.[2] The poets usually make the first syllable short, but Varro and Virgil have it long.[3][6] Church Latin glosses it repeat, double.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of doubling a theft.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of doubling a number of days.[6][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of a man doubled over in pain.[2][8]
  • early 15th century – English duplicate comes from its participle.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To double up, bend, fold over.[2][1]
  2. To double in amount or duration; to increase, enlarge.[2][6][7][1]
  3. To put two in place of one, duplicate; to repeat.[2][7][1]

Word family

  • conduplicō
  • duplicātiō
  • duplicator
  • reduplicō
  • duplicātō

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de