reduplicate

[ verb ri-doo-pli-keyt, -dyoo-; adjective ri-doo-pli-kit, -keyt, -dyoo- ]
See synonyms for: reduplicatereduplicatedreduplicating on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),re·du·pli·cat·ed, re·du·pli·cat·ing.
  1. to double; repeat.

  2. Grammar. to form (a derivative or inflected form) by doubling a specified syllable or other portion of the primitive, sometimes with fixed modifications, as in Greek léloipa “I have left,” leípo “I leave.”

verb (used without object),re·du·pli·cat·ed, re·du·pli·cat·ing.
  1. to become doubled.

  2. Grammar. to become reduplicated.

adjective
  1. doubled.

Origin of reduplicate

1
1560–70; <Late Latin reduplicātus (past participle of reduplicāre), equivalent to Latin re-re- + duplic(āre) to double + -ātus-ate1 (see duplicate)

Words that may be confused with reduplicate

Words Nearby reduplicate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use reduplicate in a sentence

  • In the Mœso-Gothic, however, there was a true reduplicate form; in other words, a perfect tense as well as an aorist.

    A Handbook of the English Language | Robert Gordon Latham
  • The reduplicate form, in other words, the perfect tense, is current in none of the Gothic languages except the Mœso-Gothic.

    A Handbook of the English Language | Robert Gordon Latham
  • There are good grounds for believing that in the word did we have a single instance of the old reduplicate prterite.

    A Handbook of the English Language | Robert Gordon Latham
  • The first is formed by a reduplication of the initial τ, and, consequently, may be called the reduplicate form.

    A Handbook of the English Language | Robert Gordon Latham
  • reduplicate, a rarer modification of valvate, is similar but with margins projecting outward.

British Dictionary definitions for reduplicate

reduplicate

verb(rɪˈdjuːplɪˌkeɪt)
  1. to make or become double; repeat

  2. to repeat (a sound or syllable) in a word or (of a sound or syllable) to be repeated, esp in forming inflections in certain languages

adjective(rɪˈdjuːplɪkɪt)
  1. doubled or repeated

  2. (of petals or sepals) having the margins curving outwards

Derived forms of reduplicate

  • reduplicative, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012