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duplication

/ˈdupləˌkeɪʃən/
IPA guide

Other forms: duplications

A replica or copy of something is a duplication, and the process of making it is also duplication. Duplication of important computer files is always a good idea — that way you have a backup if you accidentally delete something or your laptop malfunctions.

The earliest meaning of duplication was "act of doubling," from the Latin duplicare, "to double." By the 1580s, it gained the sense of "an act of making or repeating something essentially the same." Duplication can be as simple as making paper copies (or duplicates) with a Xerox machine, or as complicated as certain genetic processes in which parts of DNA are repeated.

Definitions of duplication
  1. noun
    the act of copying or making a duplicate (or duplicates) of something
    “this kind of duplication is wasteful”
    synonyms: gemination
    see moresee less
    type of:
    copying
    an act of copying
  2. noun
    a copy that corresponds to an original exactly
    synonyms: duplicate
    see moresee less
    types:
    backup, computer backup
    (computer science) a copy of a file or directory on a separate storage device
    counterpart, similitude, twin
    a duplicate copy
    match, mate
    an exact duplicate
    type of:
    copy
    a thing made to be similar or identical to another thing
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