doublet

American  

[duhb-lit] / ˈdʌb lɪt /

noun

1. a close-fitting outer garment, with or without sleeves and sometimes having a short skirt, worn by men in the Renaissance.

2. an undergarment, quilted and reinforced with mail, worn beneath armor.

3. a pair of like things; couple.

4. one of a pair of like things; duplicate.

5. Linguistics. one of two or more words in a language that are derived from the same source, especially when one is learned while the other is popular, as coy and quiet, both taken from the same Latin word, quiet directly, and coy by way of Old French.

6. Printing. an unintentional repetition in printed matter or proof.

7. doublets, a throw of a pair of dice in which the same number of spots turns up on each die.

8. Jewelry. a counterfeit gem made of two pieces, either of smaller gemstones, inferior stones, or glass.

9. Optics. a compound lens made of two thin lenses shaped so as to reduce chromatic and spherical aberrations.

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doublet British  

/ ˈdʌblɪt /

noun

1. (formerly) a man's close-fitting jacket, with or without sleeves (esp in the phrase doublet and hose. )

2. 1. a pair of similar things, esp two words deriving ultimately from the same source, for example reason and ratio or fragile and frail

   2. one of such a pair

3. jewellery a false gem made by welding a thin layer of a gemstone onto a coloured glass base or by fusing two small stones together to make a larger one

4. physics

   1. a multiplet that has two members

   2. a closely spaced pair of related spectral lines

5. (plural) two dice each showing the same number of spots on one throw

6. physics two simple lenses designed to be used together, the optical distortion in one being balanced by that in the other

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Etymology

Origin of doublet

1300–50; Middle English < Middle French. See double, -et

Explanation

The fitted jacket that European men commonly wore during the Renaissance period is called a doublet. If you go to a Renaissance Faire, you'll see men wearing doublets (along with cloaks, tunics, tights, and scabbards). The French word doublet comes from duble, "double or two-fold." The original doublets were merely the lining (or "doubling") of another garment, often a hauberk, or chainmail shirt, and meant to keep the stiff material from rubbing or chafing the skin. The doublet evolved into being worn on its own, tailored to fit the body and sometimes padded to give the wearer a "fashionable" shape.

Example Sentences

Doublet said the review found businesses, particularly smaller businesses, had struggled with the legal changes.

From BBC • Jan. 27, 2026

Deputy Louise Doublet, assistant minister for children and education, said that, if approved, it would ensure all families were "treated fairly in the eyes of the law".

From BBC • Dec. 21, 2023

In new neuroscience research from Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, authored by Thomas Doublet, Mona Nosrati and Clifford G. Kentros, the research team studied the way that adolescent lab rats navigated.

From Salon • Sep. 3, 2022

He said one of the queen’s favorites was Doublet, a horse that Anne rode when she won the European Eventing Championships in 1971.

From Washington Post • Jun. 3, 2022

In it the second Rhyming Doublet is divided by a kind of parenthetic Rhythmic Solitaire.

From Negro Folk Rhymes Wise and Otherwise: With a Study by Talley, Thomas Washington

Related Words

• combination
• couple
• duo
• match
• team
• two