Etymograph

English

duple

Duple comes from Latin duplus ‘twofold, double’, and goes back to 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‘twofold, double’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2015duple4

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, English duple
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Ben Lerner, Diary: “McGonagall is earnestly trying to gather the resources of…”.

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, English duple‘twofold, double’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2015dupleWiktionary, English duple. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Ben Lerner, Diary: “McGonagall is earnestly trying to gather the resources of…”

The story

Attested since the 16th century.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

with, pimpernel, 22 more

through Latin duplus ‘twofold, double’

double, 9 more

Today it means

adj Double.

Sources

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

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