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Synonyms

duplication

American  
[doo-pli-key-shuhn, dyoo-] / ˌdu plɪˈkeɪ ʃən, ˌdyu- /

noun

  1. an act or instance of duplicating.

  2. the state of being duplicated.

  3. a duplicate.

  4. Genetics. a type of chromosomal aberration in which a region of the chromosome is repeated.


duplication British  
/ ˌdjuːplɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

  1. the act of duplicating or the state of being duplicated

  2. a copy; duplicate

  3. genetics a mutation in which there are two or more copies of a gene or of a segment of a chromosome

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of duplication

1490–1500; (< Anglo-French ) < Latin duplicātiōn- (stem of duplicātiō ), equivalent to duplicāt ( us ) ( see duplicate) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

A replica or copy of something is a duplication, and the process of making it is also duplication. Duplication of important computer files is always a good idea — that way you have a backup if you accidentally delete something or your laptop malfunctions. The earliest meaning of duplication was "act of doubling," from the Latin duplicare, "to double." By the 1580s, it gained the sense of "an act of making or repeating something essentially the same." Duplication can be as simple as making paper copies (or duplicates) with a Xerox machine, or as complicated as certain genetic processes in which parts of DNA are repeated.

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