Etymograph

English

double

Double comes from Middle English double, from Old French doble, from Latin duplus ‘twofold’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwi- ‘two’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwi-1‘two’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwiplós1‘double’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwiplos1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*duplos1reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEduplus1‘twofold’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400doble1
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500double1
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1515–1516double1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English double
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton: “A fals double tunge is more fiers and fell…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwi-Wiktionary, English double‘two’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwiplósWiktionary, English double‘double’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwiplosWiktionary, English doublereconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*duplosWiktionary, English doublereconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEduplusWiktionary, English double‘twofold’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400dobleWiktionary, English double
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500doubleWiktionary, English double
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1515–1516doubleWiktionary, English double. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton: “A fals double tunge is more fiers and fell…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with double, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *dwi- ‘two’

  • with ← wiþ ← *wiþi ← *wiþrą ← *wíterom
  • pimpernel ← pimpernele ← pimpinelle ← pimpinella ← piper

23 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Made up of two matching or complementary elements.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “double”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dwi- / double