Etymograph

English

quadruplex

Quadruplex comes from Latin quadruplex ‘fourfold, quadruple’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadruplex1‘fourfold, quadruple’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1905quadruplex1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English quadruplex
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1905, Electrical World and Engineer, New York: “The Western Union office is equipped with four quadruplexes,…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquadruplexWiktionary, English quadruplex‘fourfold, quadruple’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1905quadruplexWiktionary, English quadruplex. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1905, Electrical World and Engineer, New York: “The Western Union office is equipped with four quadruplexes,…”

A compound of quattuor ‘four’ + plico ‘fold’

Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr

Proto-Italic *kʷettwōr ‘four’

Latin quattuor ‘four’

Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’

Latin plico ‘fold’

Every English word from Latin quadruplex

Today it means

adj Having four components.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quadruplex”. 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 / Latin quadruplex / quadruplex

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