Doubling

How to spell doubling

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce doubling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does doubling mean?

1. verbMaking something twice as large, numerous, or strong; present participle of 'to double'.
2. nounThe act or process of making something twice as great.

Doubling in a sentence

• verb

  The firm is doubling its production capacity at the new plant.

• noun

  The doubling of the rent forced several tenants to move out.

• verb

  Interest charges keep doubling the size of the unpaid balance.

• noun

  A sudden doubling of demand left the warehouse short of stock.

Where does doubling come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows out of 'double', which English took from the Old French 'doble' in the 1200s, itself descended from the Latin 'duplus', meaning 'twofold' or 'twice as much'. That Latin form combines 'duo', meaning 'two', with the root '-plus', tied to 'plicare', meaning 'to fold', so the literal sense was something folded back on itself to make two. The verb 'to double' developed naturally from the adjective, describing the act of making a quantity twice as large, and adding the participle ending '-ing' produced 'doubling'. The spelling trap lives in the suffix: 'double' ends in a silent 'e' that disappears before '-ing', and there is only one 'l', so the form is 'doubling' rather than 'doubbling' or 'doubeling'. The same 'duplus' ancestor still shows up in relatives like 'duplicate' and 'duplex', a useful reminder of the underlying 'two-fold' meaning.

How the word is built

• doubl- (from Latin duplus: twofold)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix; silent 'e' of 'double' is dropped before -ing)