ditto

American  

[dit-oh] / ˈdɪt oʊ /

noun

dittos, plural dittoes plural

1. the aforesaid; the above; the same (used in accounts, lists, etc., to avoid repetition). do. ″.

2. another of the same.

3. Informal. a duplicate; copy.

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adverb

1. as already stated; likewise.

verb (used with object)

dittoed, dittoing

1. to duplicate or repeat the action or statement of (another person).

2. to make a copy of, as by using a Ditto machine.

ditto British  

/ ˈdɪtəʊ /

noun

1.  do.  the aforementioned; the above; the same. Used in accounts, lists, etc, to avoid repetition and symbolized by two small marks (ˌ) known as ditto marks , placed under the thing repeated

2. informal

   1. a duplicate

   2. ( as modifier )

      a ditto copy

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adverb

1. in the same way

1. informal used to avoid repeating or to confirm agreement with an immediately preceding sentence

verb

1. (tr) to copy; repeat

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dittoes
  plural
• dittos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ditto

First recorded in 1615–25; from Italian, variant of detto “said,” from Latin dictus, past participle of dīcere “to say”; see dictum ( def. )

Explanation

A ditto looks like a quotation mark — " — and it's used as you go down a list to indicate you're repeating whatever is above. If your jellies and jams all cost $2.00, you can write $2.00 just once with the first item on your price list and " in the price column next to each item listed below. You can also use the word ditto informally to describe repetition: "I can't believe you wore those shoes. Ditto that hat." You may recognize Ditto as the aptly named son of the comic strip characters Hi and Lois; he’s the twin brother of Dot.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ditto dittoes dittos dittoed

For the first half of the 20th century, this need was addressed—sort of—via mimeographs and ditto machines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025

That Ellie is relentless has been made abundantly clear; ditto the fact that she is confused about her purpose in life.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2025

England's 2005 Ashes winners didn't always get on, ditto the great Australian teams led by Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2023

Always in the background was his sense that Ukrainian food — ditto the country’s culture writ large — wasn’t being true to itself.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 25, 2023

Principal Peattie set his ditto down on the desk in front of him.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

Jaunty men in loud suits of dittoes have come into the north country, and display fly-books that vie in the variegated brilliancy of their contents with a Dutch tulip bed.

From Camps, Quarters, and Casual Places by Forbes, Archibald

It was a dingy apartment, with a single large horse-hair chair and half a dozen small wooden dittoes, placed with mathematical precision along the walls.

From The Firm of Girdlestone by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir

And Matilda had come out in the home dress she had worn while she and Maria had been washing up the dinner dittoes.

From What She Could by Warner, Susan

A dot-and-go-one suit of dittoes went for best, so to speak, with his curly red hair, and got the better of it by a long way.

From The Man Who Drove the Car by Pemberton, Max, Sir

Secretaries, servants, wood, charities, which are demanded as rights, and the million dittoes, present such a prospect as is enough to disgust anyone.

From Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams Sixth President of the Unied States by Seward, William Henry

She had such a clear vision, he said: That the movie should center on a mall, that there should be surreal shots, like the kids smelling their dittos.

From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2018

His hands were always blue from the ink, mostly because he hauled the dittos out from the machine while they were still wet from the alcohol—the smell of which gave the room a tang.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

Mrs. Baker came back into the room with a pile of blue dittos.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

Catch the Spirit!—and they handed out a stack of dittos, and for the next thirty minutes, Principal Peattie stood on the stage and read them to us.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

The thyroid and the adrenals are mutually stimulating—when the thyroid oversecretes, the adrenal dittos, and vice versa.

From The Glands Regulating Personality by Berman, Louis, M.D.

This understanding is dittoed for the batter who’s on a hitting streak, the poker player who’s drawing strong hands and the stock picker who has a run of soaring successes.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 27, 2023

This sentiment was dittoed in a post from somebody named Louise.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2010

He dittoed these off like a major publisher.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt