diptych

American  

[dip-tik] / ˈdɪp tɪk /

noun

1. a hinged two-leaved tablet used in ancient times for writing on with a stylus.

2. Usually diptychs.

   1. a similar tablet of wood or metal containing on one leaf the names of those among the living, and on the other those among the dead, for whom prayers and Masses are said.

   2. the lists of such persons.

   3. the intercession in the course of which these names were introduced.

3. a pair of pictures or carvings on two panels, usually hinged together.

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diptych British  

/ ˈdɪptɪk /

noun

1. a pair of hinged wooden tablets with waxed surfaces for writing

2. a painting or carving on two panels, usually hinged like a book

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Etymology

Origin of diptych

1615–25; < Late Latin diptycha writing tablet with two leaves < Greek díptycha, neuter plural of díptychos folded together, equivalent to di- di- ¹ + -ptychos, verbid of ptýssein to fold

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diptych

The collection was later recovered by Allied forces and given to the Dutch government, with the diptych being sold to the Norton Simon in 1971.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

The diptych – an artwork spread across two panels – shows the Good on the left and the Bad on the right.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

In a room at the French consul general’s, a diptych of palms as long-legged as Paris runway models.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025

Violette Bule’s “Dream America,” a photographic diptych of a dishwasher carrying a tray of red, white and blue plates and the stars and stripes, evokes August Sander’s famous portrait of a bulging, burdened bricklayer.

From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2023

To my Lord and Prince I sent a diptych edged with gold.

From Arts and Crafts in the Middle Ages A Description of Mediaeval Workmanship in Several of the Departments of Applied Art, Together with Some Account of Special Artisans in the Early Renaissance by Julia de Wolf Gibbs Addison

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