double French · revision 16693

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont (dobpla)|origins=la duo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dubl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''double''' (adjective, plural ''doubles''); '''double''' ''m'' (noun)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''dobpla'' (late 10th century, feminine), ''duble'' (11th century), ''doble''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is [[inh|fro|doble]], [[inh|la|duplus|t=twice as large, double]], and the noun continues its neuter [[m|la|duplum|t=twice as much]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 185a) The Latin adjective is formed on [[m|la|duo|t=two]] (see [[deux]]); most of its senses are shared by [[m|la|duplex]] (see [[duplex]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Littré took the second element to represent [[m|la|plicō|t=to fold]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|doppio]], [[pro|doble]], [[ca|doble]], [[es|doble]] and [[pt|dobro]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Passion'' of Clermont-Ferrand (late 10th century) has ''dobpla corda'' “double cord”, in the sense “repeated twice, twice as much”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From the end of the 16th century it also expresses intensity: ''double bière'' (1551), Molière's ''double bourreau'' (1655).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ As a noun it is first the quantity twice another (about 1150), with ''au double'' (about 1170) and ''en double'' (1461).^(TLFi) 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''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''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Dobpla'', ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1150 – The noun “twice as much”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1210 – “Deceitful”, Guillaume le Clerc.^(TLFi)

+ * 1340 – A coin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1406 – “Copy”, Nicolas de Baye.^(TLFi)

+ * 1461 – ''En double''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1465 – ''Jouer à quitte et à double''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1657–62 – ''Double sens'', Pascal.^(TLFi)

+ * 1771 – Understudy in the theatre.^(TLFi)

+ * 1832 – “Alter ego”, Balzac.^(TLFi)

+ * 1929 – Doubles in tennis.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|double]], twice as much or as large; repeated twice, made of two like parts: ''double nœud'', ''fermer à double tour'', ''en double exemplaire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Having two aspects or uses: ''à double sens'', ''à double tranchant'', ''mener une double vie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Two-faced, ''agent double'', double agent, ''jouer double jeu''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Twice the amount: ''coûter le double'', ''en double'', in duplicate.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A copy, [[m|en|duplicate]]: ''le double d'une clé''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person's [[m|en|lookalike]], alter ego; an understudy.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(tennis)'' Doubles.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Quitte ou double'': double or quits.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Twice, doubly: ''voir double''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[doubler]]

+ * [[doublement]]

+ * [[doublure]]

+ * [[doublon]]

+ * [[dédoubler]]

+ * [[redoubler]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deux]]

+ * [[duplex]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}