replication

American  

[rep-li-key-shuhn] / ˌrɛp lɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. a reply; answer.

2. a reply to an answer.

3. Law. the reply of the plaintiff or complainant to the defendant's plea or answer.

4. reverberation; echo.

5. a copy.

6. the act or process of replicating, especially for experimental purposes.

7. Genetics. semiconservative replication.

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replication British  

/ ˌrɛplɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. a reply or response

2. law (formerly) the plaintiff's reply to a defendant's answer or plea

3. biology the production of exact copies of complex molecules, such as DNA molecules, that occurs during growth of living organisms

4. repetition of a procedure, such as a scientific experiment, in order to reduce errors

5. a less common word for replica

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Other Word Forms

• nonreplication noun

Etymology

Origin of replication

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English replicacioun, from Middle French replication, from Latin replicātiōn- (stem of replicātiō ) “a rolling back,” equivalent to replicāt(us) + -iōn- suffix forming nouns; replicate, -ion

Explanation

If you make a copy of something, like a form or a picture, you have made a replication of it. You might need to mail in a replication of your tax forms when you apply for college financial aid. When you conduct an experiment, you have to repeat it several times to verify that your hypothesis is correct. Each repetition is one replication. A witty retort to a comment or question is also called a replication. Your replications to the teacher's questions may make your classmates laugh, but your smart mouth is bound to get you in trouble eventually.

Example Sentences

However, the follow-up replication studies struggled to gain acceptance from those same journals.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

By contrast, Bennett and Brassard's theory - known as BB84 - shows that any attempt to hack or copy their quantum encryption key changes the very behaviour of its elements, making replication impossible.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

Have you taken any steps to trademark it or even license it for AI replication someday?

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

The most important thing, Walden said, is to avoid mere replication — both of the nominated films’ scores and of the featured performance numbers.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

During replication, the yin-yang strands of DNA were peeled apart.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• reproduction