duplicate
Americannoun
-
duplicates
plural
-
a copy exactly like an original.
- Synonyms:
- reproduction, replica, facsimile
- Antonyms:
- original
-
anything corresponding in all respects to something else.
-
Cards. a duplicate game.
verb (used with object)
-
duplicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
duplicated,
past participle, past
-
duplicating
present participle
-
to make an exact copy of.
-
to do or perform again; repeat.
He duplicated his father's way of standing with his hands in his pockets.
-
to double; make twofold.
verb (used without object)
-
duplicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
duplicated,
past participle, past
-
duplicating
present participle
adjective
-
exactly like or corresponding to something else.
duplicate copies of a letter.
-
consisting of or existing in two identical or corresponding parts; double.
- Synonyms:
- twofold
-
Cards. noting a game in which each team plays a series of identical hands, the winner being the team making the best total score.
idioms
adjective
-
copied exactly from an original
-
identical
-
existing as a pair or in pairs; twofold
noun
-
an exact copy; double
-
something additional or supplementary of the same kind
-
two exact copies (esp in the phrase in duplicate )
verb
-
(tr) to make a replica of
-
(tr) to do or make again
-
(tr) to make in a pair; make double
-
(intr) biology to reproduce by dividing into two identical parts
the chromosomes duplicated in mitosis
Synonym Usage
See imitate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
duplicabilitynoun
-
preduplicateverb (used with object)
-
duplicableadjective
-
duplicativeadjective
-
nonduplicatingadjective
-
quasi-duplicateadjective
-
self-duplicatingadjective
-
unduplicatedadjective
-
duplicatelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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duplicatesimple
-
duplicatessimple
-
have duplicatedperfect
-
has duplicatedperfect
-
am duplicatingprogressive
-
are duplicatingprogressive
-
is duplicatingprogressive
-
have been duplicatingperfect progressive
-
has been duplicatingperfect progressive
Past
-
duplicatedsimple
-
had duplicatedperfect
-
was duplicatingprogressive
-
were duplicatingprogressive
-
had been duplicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of duplicate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin duplicātus (past participle of duplicāre “to make double”), equivalent to duplic- (stem of duplex ) duplex + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Duplicate describes something that's an exact copy. If you tend to accidentally lock yourself out of your car, it's a good idea to carry a duplicate key with you just in case. The word duplicate is useful when you're talking about a copy of something, like a duplicate of your birth certificate that you keep in a file, or a duplicate driver's license that you apply for after losing the original one. The verb duplicate is pronounced differently, with a long a sound, and it means to make a copy of or to multiply times two. The Latin root, duplicatus, means "to double."
Vocabulary lists containing duplicate
List 1
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"A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry
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"A Walk to the Jetty," Vocabulary from a novel excerpt
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The row centres over a mammoth exercise to update electoral rolls nationwide - the commission has said it's a routine exercise to weed out dead, duplicate or ineligible voters.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The ECI has rejected allegations of impropriety in the "special intensive revision", saying it was intended to remove duplicate and ineligible voters.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
We spent many weekends sorting through all the photo albums and loose photos we’d amassed or inherited, tossing the duplicate pictures and trashing my dad’s slides that were impossible to view easily.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Scan it for mistakes and duplicate charges and ask the hospital to remove incorrect charges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
And one of them will be a duplicate of Rachael, he reflected.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
In total it has nearly 15 million 'lines' of data, but some of these are thought to be duplicates.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
It could withhold files if they are duplicates; fall under attorney-client privilege; could hurt a continuing investigation; or are completely unrelated to the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
This includes Medicare and Medi-Cal explanations of benefits, monthly statements, hospice and medical visit records, and all duplicates.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 27, 2026
As these duplicates spread through overlapping communication paths, networks become congested and data begins to queue, significantly increasing delays.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026
“A key is nothing,” I said; “there may be duplicates; and anyhow it is not difficult to pick a lock of that kind.”
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
She advises people to ask for itemized bills, look for errors and duplicated charges that can be corrected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The Polleux lab has spent more than 15 years studying SRGAP2, one of several dozen genes that were duplicated specifically in humans.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
Its elements have been duplicated, sampled and reimagined so many times that it now exists in countless forms, offering endless ways in.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
Nevertheless, some of the works involved are "especially popular and duplicated many times online", making it difficult to exclude them completely from training data.
From Barron's ● Mar. 20, 2026
Then, using a lightly drawn grid, she duplicated those shapes exactly on a separate piece of paper.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
Countries seeking to protect domestic companies are also duplicating efforts, such as building too many different types of armored vehicles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Instead, it can draw on existing mental components, recombine them, and avoid duplicating work, a strategy that current AI systems generally lack.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 2025
Guthy had made a living duplicating audiocassettes for medical conferences and real estate professionals selling home study programs who would then turn around and sell them to customers for hundreds of dollars on infomercials.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2025
The commission says the US company whose system it used maintained that "duplicating a voter on the voter list is impossible, as each voter is registered only once".
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2024
A hit meant duplicating the last three figures of the Stock Exchange’s printed daily total of U.S. domestic and foreign sales.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
