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
-
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 mailer, in English and Spanish, instructs those who got two ballots to “securely destroy the duplicate ballot” instead of returning it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
To study the consequences of these abnormalities, Cimini's team manipulated diploid cancer cells so they would duplicate their chromosomes without completing cell division.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026
Election authorities say the exercise was aimed at eliminating duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
The Election Commission says it is to remove duplicate and ineligible entries - and so far, 130 million names have been struck off the voters' list.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
It was a duplicate of the street on which I lived, but a good deal older and less neatly kept.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
Annarita Librari’s stunningly intricate watermark duplicates Leonardo da Vinci’s “Lady With an Ermine.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
According to an ECI breakdown seen by AFP, around 28 million entries were classified as belonging to deceased voters and 10.4 million as duplicates, while millions of others were marked as absent, shifted or untraceable.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Other names are probably duplicates, the government says, while some people may have gone off the grid voluntarily for personal reasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
In total it has nearly 15 million 'lines' of data, but some of these are thought to be duplicates.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
Everyone has duplicates of themselves in these other worlds.
From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
Rather, he said by deleting duplicated language in the charter, the rules will be easier to understand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
They uncovered thousands of structural variants, including DNA segments that had been duplicated, deleted, or rearranged.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Heartland believes it can reduce 12% of the combined operating expenses through eliminating duplicated overheads, notes analyst Ben Crozier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 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
The climate itself made for an ease of living that could never be duplicated in this bleak, barren countryside.
From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry
With no perfect solution yet, companies are adding different sensor systems as well as duplicating those that already come as standard to provide extra back-up.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
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
And then he added thoughtfully, “We really ought to have a duplicating machine.”
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
