duplex

American  

[doo-pleks, dyoo-] / ˈdu plɛks, ˈdyu- /

noun

1. duplex apartment.

2. duplex house.

3. paper or cardboard having different colors, finishes, or stocks on opposite sides.

4. Printing.

   1. a method of reproducing an illustration using two halftone plates, one black and the other in a color.

   2. a printing press equipped to print both sides of a sheet in one pass.

5. Genetics. a double-stranded region of DNA.

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adjective

1. having two parts; double; twofold.

2. (of a machine) having two identical working units, operating together or independently, in a single framework or assembly.

3. pertaining to or noting a telecommunications system, as most telephone systems, permitting the simultaneous transmission of two messages in opposite directions over one channel.

verb (used with object)

1. to make duplex; make or change into a duplex.

   Many owners are duplexing their old houses for extra income.

duplex British  

/ ˈdjuːplɛks /

noun

1. a duplex apartment or house

2. a double-stranded region in a nucleic acid molecule

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adjective

1. having two parts

2. machinery having pairs of components of independent but identical function

3. permitting the transmission of simultaneous signals in both directions in a radio, telecommunications, or computer channel

Other Word Forms

• duplexity
  noun

Etymology

Origin of duplex

1810–20; < Latin: twofold, double, equivalent to du ( o ) two + -plex -plex

Explanation

A two-family house can be called a duplex. Living in a duplex is great — unless the people with whom you share a wall like to have all-night yodeling parties. In the U.K. a duplex is an apartment with an upstairs and a downstairs, but in North America a duplex is a building divided into two separate living spaces. Most duplexes are built with the two homes side by side, although you can also live in a duplex with apartments on two floors. The Latin duplex means "twofold," from duo, "two," and -plex, "to intertwine." The word was coined in the U.S. around 1922.

Example Sentences

Luckily, the upstairs cabaret at the Duplex, a few doors down from the Stonewall Inn, was available.

From New York Times • Nov. 27, 2021

“It’s going to be a huge night,” Cyril Blanc, artistic director at Le Duplex, said.

From Reuters • Jul. 8, 2021

The hottest Airbnb in town just might be the Doublemint Duplex, a home whose extensive renovation was very publicly chronicled by Young House Love bloggers John and Sherry Petersik.

From Washington Post • Aug. 15, 2019

Instead of just confirming a booking for you, users can scan the auto-filled forms to approve what Duplex has written in before moving forward.

From The Verge • May 7, 2019

“It must be right,” muttered Harry; and then his thoughts strayed away for awhile to Duplex Street, and he found himself forming plans for the future, in which Patty Pellet occupied a very prominent place.

From A Little World by Fenn, George Manville