doppelganger English · revision 2254

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdɒp(ə)lˌɡɛŋə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈdɑp(ə)lˌɡɛŋəɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|de|Doppelgänger]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) literally “double-goer”,^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''doppel-'' “double” and ''-gänger'' “goer”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) from ''Gang'' “a going”.^(AHD) It is sometimes half-translated as ''doubleganger''.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The apparition or ghostly double of a living person.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) Etymonline dates it to 1826 (as a German word from 1824), the OED and Merriam-Webster to 1851.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word originally had a ghostly sense,^(Etymonline) and dictionaries still define it as a spectral double that haunts its living counterpart.^(AHD)^(Wiktionary) It has since been weakened to a person who closely resembles another, an alter ego, or even someone with the same name.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1824 – as a German word in English.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1826 – an apparition of a living person.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1851 – a ghostly double.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its counterpart.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Someone who looks remarkably like another person; a double.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An alter ego, or a person with the same name as another.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[doubleganger]]

+ * [[double]]

+ * [[gang]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}