Replica

How to spell replica

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce replica

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does replica mean?

1. nounAn exact copy or close reproduction of an original object.

Replica in a sentence

• The museum displays a full-size replica of the ancient ship.

• He built a working replica of the vintage engine in his garage.

Where does replica come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word came into English in the early 1800s straight from Italian, where replica meant a repetition, a copy, or even a reply. The Italian word descends from the Latin verb replicare, which literally meant 'to fold back', built from re- ('back' or 'again') and plicare ('to fold'). Over time replicare drifted from the physical idea of folding something back on itself toward the figurative sense of repeating or answering, which is also how English got the related word 'reply'. In the art world an Italian replica originally referred to a duplicate of a painting or sculpture made by the original artist, and that specialist meaning is what English first borrowed before it broadened to any faithful copy. The same plicare root lies hidden in a whole family of English words, including 'duplicate', 'complicate', and 'pliable', all of which involve folding in one sense or another.

How the word is built

• re- (back/again)
• plic (fold, from Latin plicare)
• -a (Italian noun ending)