Double

How to spell double

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce double

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does double mean?

1. adjectiveConsisting of two parts, twice the usual size, amount, or strength.
2. verbTo make or become twice as much or as many.
3. nounA person or thing that looks exactly like another, or a stand-in for an actor.

Double in a sentence

• adjective

  The hotel room had a double bed and a small balcony.

• verb

  The company expects its profits to double within five years.

• noun

  The stunt double performed the dangerous fall instead of the lead actor.

• adjective

  She ordered a double shot of espresso to get through the meeting.

• verb

  Adding more staff could double our output by next quarter.

• noun

  The waiter looked like the exact double of my old teacher.

Where does double come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin duplus, meaning 'twofold' or 'twice as much', formed from duo 'two' and the element -plus 'fold', the same root that gives us 'ply' and 'plus'. It travelled into English through Old French as 'doble' or 'duble' during the 1200s, carrying both the sense of two of something and the sense of folding back on itself. Over the centuries the word branched into many uses: a person's exact look-alike, a stand-in actor, and in cricket and baseball a particular kind of score or hit. The silent placement of the 'ou' (representing the 'u' sound) and the unstressed '-ble' ending are the small traps for writers, even though the word is extremely common. Its cousins 'duplicate' and 'duet' make the original 'two' meaning easy to recall.

How the word is built

• dou- (from Latin duo: two)
• -ble (from -plus: fold) = twofold