Etymograph

English

doubloon

Doubloon comes from Spanish doblón, from doble ‘double’, and 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*dwiplós2‘double, twofold’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*duplos3‘double’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEduplus4‘double’
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentdoble5‘double’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentdoblón5augmentative of doble
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentdoublon5
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1883doubloon5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dwiplós
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *duplos
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin duplus
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Spanish doble
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English doubloon
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson: “English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwi-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dwiplós‘two’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwiplósWiktionary, Proto-Italic *duplos‘double, twofold’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*duplosWiktionary, Latin duplus‘double’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEduplusWiktionary, Spanish doble‘double’
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentdobleWiktionary, English doubloon‘double’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentdoblónWiktionary, English doubloonaugmentative of doble
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentdoublonWiktionary, English doubloon
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1883doubloonWiktionary, English doubloon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson: “English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georges, and Louises, doubloons and…”

The story

From French doublon, from Spanish doblón, augmentative of doble (‘double’), because it was worth twice a pistole.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

with, pimpernel, 23 more

Today it means

noun A former Spanish gold coin, also used in its American colonies.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “doubloon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *dwiplós, Proto-Italic *duplos, Latin duplus, Spanish doble. 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- / doubloon

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