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triplicate

[noun, adjective trip-li-kit, -keyt; verb trip-li-keyt]
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noun
  1. one of three identical items, especially copies of typewritten material.
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verb (used with object), trip·li·cat·ed, trip·li·cat·ing.
  1. to make threefold; triple.
  2. to make in triplicate: to triplicate a report before releasing it.
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adjective
  1. produced in or consisting of three copies or parts; threefold; triple: triplicate contracts.
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Idioms
  1. in triplicate,
    1. in three identical copies: This letter should be done in triplicate.
    2. threefold: That goes for me, too, in triplicate.
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Origin of triplicate

1400–50; late Middle English (adj.) < Latin triplicātus (past participle of triplicāre to triple), equivalent to triplic- (stem of triplex) triplex + -ātus -ate1
Related formstrip·li·ca·tion, nounsub·trip·li·cate, adjectivesub·trip·li·cat·ed, adjectivesub·trip·li·ca·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

threesometriumviratetrilogytroikatriadleashtripletrinitytrinetriplettriangletriplicatetriptychtreyterniontriotriplicitythirdtrichotomytrivium

Examples from the Web for triplicate

Historical Examples

  • Bills of exchange are usually drawn in duplicate and sometimes in triplicate.

    Up To Date Business

    Various

  • He made a copy of the indent in triplicate, as well as an office copy.

    In Mesopotamia

    Martin Swayne

  • Herewith you have in triplicate and copy of my former letters.

  • They are like a three-headed Charles I—or a triplicate Geibel.

  • And with the lock they had supplied two keys; they had not retained a triplicate.

British Dictionary definitions for triplicate

triplicate

adjective (ˈtrɪplɪkɪt)
  1. triple
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verb (ˈtrɪplɪˌkeɪt)
  1. to multiply or be multiplied by three
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noun (ˈtrɪplɪkɪt)
    1. a group of three things
    2. one of such a group
  2. in triplicate written out three times
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Derived Formstriplication, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Latin triplicāre to triple, from triplex
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

Word Origin and History for triplicate

adj.

early 15c., "triple, threefold," from Latin triplicatus, past participle of triplicare "to triple," from tri- "three" (see tri-) + plicare "to fold" see ply (v.1)). The verb meaning "to multiply by three" is recorded from 1620s.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper