replicate

Where does the word "replicate" come from? It comes from Latin replicare, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Replicate’s story begins in Latin: replicare meant “to fold back, to repeat.” To fold back, to repeat, from re- (back) and plicare (to fold). It reached English by 1400s as replicate. Settled as the English word for making an exact copy or reproducing something. Today, replicate means to make an exact copy of something, or to reproduce a result.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient replicare "to fold back, to repeat", to fold back, to repeat, from re- (back) and plicare (to fold).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s replicate "to make an exact copy or reproduce something", settled as the English word for making an exact copy or reproducing something.