duplex

/ˌduˈplɛks/

/ˈduplɛks/

Other forms: duplexes; duplexing

A two-family house can be called a duplex. Living in a duplex is great — unless the people with whom you share a wall like to have all-night yodeling parties.

In the U.K. a duplex is an apartment with an upstairs and a downstairs, but in North America a duplex is a building divided into two separate living spaces. Most duplexes are built with the two homes side by side, although you can also live in a duplex with apartments on two floors. The Latin duplex means "twofold," from duo, "two," and -plex, "to intertwine." The word was coined in the U.S. around 1922.

Definitions of duplex

1. noun

   a house with two units sharing a common wall
   synonyms: duplex house, semidetached house

   type of:

   house

   a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
2. noun

   an apartment having rooms on two floors that are connected by a staircase
   synonyms: duplex apartment

   type of:

   apartment, flat

   a suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house
3. adjective

   (used technically of a device or process) having two parts
   “a duplex transaction”

   synonyms:

   multiple

   having or involving or consisting of more than one part or entity or individual
4. adjective

   allowing communication in opposite directions simultaneously
   “duplex system”

   “duplex telephony”

   synonyms:

   bidirectional

   reactive or functioning or allowing movement in two usually opposite directions
5. verb

   change into a duplex
   type of:

   convert

   change the nature, purpose, or function of something