duplex meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

duplex

adj

US /ˈdu.plɛks/

Etymology PIE word *dwóh₁ Borrowed from Latin duplex (“double, two-fold”), from duo (“two”) + plico (“fold together”); compare the roots of διπλόος (diplóos, “double”); compare also πλέκω (plékō, “twist, braid”). By surface analysis, duo- + -plex.

› Double; made up of two parts.

1

Architecture Having two floors.

2

Architecture Having two units, divisions, suites, or apartments.

3

Engineering, Metallurgy, Natural sciences, Physical sciences Of stainless steel: having a structure containing austenite and ferrite in roughly equal proportions.

Duplex stainless steels have been classified according to the first period (1930–1960) and second period (1960–1990). The designations for these duplex alloys in the United States have been primarily according to Unified Numbering System (UNS) numbers in the S3xxx.x series.2010, Harold M. Cobb, The History of Stainless Steel, Materials Park, O.H.: ASM International, →ISBN, page 189:

4

Communications, Electrical engineering, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Telecommunications Bidirectional (in two directions).

duplex telegraphy

5

Having horizons with contrasting textures.

Soils are duplex, sandy and solodic. The dominant trees are the stringybark eucalypts […]1977, Australian Journal of Botany, volume 25, page 462:

Derived terms: duplexity, duplex nail, echoplex, full duplex, half-duplex, heteroduplex, homoduplex, interduplex, intraduplex, multiduplex, nonduplex, semiduplex, superduplex
Related terms: contraplex, diplex, duplex escapement, duplex lathe, duplex pumping engine, duplex querela, duplex watch
Hyponyms: full duplex, half-duplex, semiduplex

duplex

noun

Etymology PIE word *dwóh₁ Borrowed from Latin duplex (“double, two-fold”), from duo (“two”) + plico (“fold together”); compare the roots of διπλόος (diplóos, “double”); compare also πλέκω (plékō, “twist, braid”). By surface analysis, duo- + -plex.

1

Australia, Canada, US A house made up of two dwelling units.

The house had been renovated into a duplex and he’d put in a phone line.2020, Akwaeke Emezi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Faber & Faber Ltd, page 53:

2

US A dwelling unit with two floors.

3

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Philately A cancellation combining a numerical cancellation with a second mark showing time, date, and place of posting.

4

Arts, Hobbies, Juggling, Lifestyle, Performing arts, Sports A throwing motion where two balls are thrown with one hand at the same time.

5

Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A double-stranded polynucleotide.

6

Geography, Geology, Natural sciences A system of multiple thrust faults bounded above and below by a roof thrust and floor thrust.

In contrast, the folds in the overlying lithotectonic unit 4 are larger and are cut by a series of faults in a duplex.1993, David J. Lidke, Jack Burton Epstein, Chester A. Wallace, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, page 16:
It has been noted, using a combination of surface geologic and seismic reflection data, that a duplex, although formed in response to movement of a thrust sheet, frequently arches the thrust sheet as the duplex is built by duplication of rocks beneath it […]1995, Robert D. Hatcher, Structural Geology: Principles, Concepts, and Problems, page 211:

Related terms: 2-plex, diplex, oligoduplex, quadruplex, triplex, bungalow, maisonette, rowhouse, semi-detached, townhouse

duplex

verb

Etymology PIE word *dwóh₁ Borrowed from Latin duplex (“double, two-fold”), from duo (“two”) + plico (“fold together”); compare the roots of διπλόος (diplóos, “double”); compare also πλέκω (plékō, “twist, braid”). By surface analysis, duo- + -plex.

1

To make duplex.

2

To make into a duplex.

3

Arts, Hobbies, Juggling, Lifestyle, Performing arts, Sports To make a series of duplex throws.

Related terms: double, duplicity, multiplex, quadruplex, simplex, single, triple, triplex

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