replicate
Americanadjective
verb (used with object)
-
replicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
replicated,
past participle, past
-
replicating
present participle
-
to bend or fold back.
a replicated leaf.
-
to repeat, duplicate, or reproduce, especially for experimental purposes.
We were unable to replicate the same results in the field.
-
Genetics. (of a cell) to make a copy of (its DNA).
The cell replicates its DNA to begin the process of cell division.
verb (used without object)
-
replicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
replicated,
past participle, past
-
replicating
present participle
noun
verb
-
(also intr) to make or be a copy of; reproduce
-
to fold (something) over on itself; bend back
-
to reply to
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
replicatesimple
-
replicatessimple
-
have replicatedperfect
-
has replicatedperfect
-
am replicatingprogressive
-
are replicatingprogressive
-
is replicatingprogressive
-
have been replicatingperfect progressive
-
has been replicatingperfect progressive
Past
-
replicatedsimple
-
had replicatedperfect
-
was replicatingprogressive
-
were replicatingprogressive
-
had been replicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of replicate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Late Latin replicātus, past participle of replicāre “to fold back”; see re-, ply 2, -ate 1
Explanation
Did you just figure out how to make that excellent pizza you had in Philadelphia? Then what you’ve done is replicate it, meaning you’ve been able to reproduce it. The word replicate carries different shades of meaning, but it generally involves repeating something. Students of biology will know that the word is often used to indicate that an exact duplicate has been made, such as chromosomes that replicate themselves. It can also be used in an unscientific sense to mean that something has been done again to match or repeat an earlier outcome, such as a political group that works to replicate a successful campaign.
Vocabulary lists containing replicate
NAEP Test Words
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Florida EOC Biology 1
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The Bluest Eye
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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:
She avoided watching filmed depictions so as not to replicate other actors’ work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
But since the results differed by ethnicity, further research is needed in larger samples to replicate the differences, she said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
It’s worth considering whether elite campus environments normalize an organizational model that many of today’s millennial political leaders seek to replicate through public policy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Cleanaway has disappointed market expectations over the past five years despite owning assets that are difficult for rivals to replicate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
At dinner the first night, Conant asked Lawrence what he thought it might cost to replicate the Rad Lab at Harvard.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
This dishonesty spoils the story and replicates the Bundists’ ideological vanity, minus their heroism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
At just 6mph, it replicates the kind of annoying prang you might well get in a car park or at a traffic light.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Infected rodents don’t get symptoms, but the virus replicates in their cells.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
She credits them with creating practices that replicates the type of defense that Texas will play with.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026
But no one ever replicates those prescribed lengths perfectly.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
“These are assets with qualities that cannot be replicated by technology,” the homepage reads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Thrive Eternal, which focuses on assets that can’t be replicated by technology, bought a stake in Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
West replicated the typical portfolio of a university endowment—some public stocks and bonds, plus loads of private assets—with funds that offer similar strategies for individual investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
A mental health support service for female veterans founded one year ago could be replicated across the country.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Here was the Congo, here was Japan, here was Albania, here was Cairo—snippets of the world replicated and sterilized, confined behind walls and fences like animal exhibits.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Large-molecule biosimilar manufacturers face a far harder technical task: replicating a large, complex protein closely enough to satisfy regulators, at development costs that can run up to hundreds of millions of dollars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
But replicating the Lagos model across the whole country will take time.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
By replicating the action of this hormone, GLP-1 drugs have proven highly effective at managing type 2 diabetes and promoting weight loss.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
He has issued numerous written statements on policy matters but is far from replicating the one-man rule of his father.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Ever since, they have maintained themselves and their ways, replicating in their own fashion, privately, with their own DNA and RNA quite different from ours.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
