English Explanatory Dictionary

ditto

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the same, likewise.
  2. The ditto mark, 〃; a symbol, represented by two apostrophes, inverted commas, or quotation marks (" "), indicating that the item preceding is to be repeated.
  3. A suit of clothes of the same color throughout.
  4. A copy made by (run off by) a ditto machine (especially, a worksheet thus reproduced).
  5. A copy; an imitation.
adv
  1. As said before, likewise.
verb
  1. To repeat the aforesaid, the earlier action etc.
  2. To make a copy using a ditto machine.
intj
  1. Used as an expression of agreement with what another person has said, or to indicate that what they have said equally applies to the person being addressed.

Pronunciation

/ˈdɪtəʊ/ /ˈdɪtoʊ/ [ˈdɪɾoʊ] en-us-ditto.ogg en-au-ditto.ogg

Word forms

ditto dittos dittoes dittoing dittoed

Etymology

First attested in 1625. From regional Italian ditto, variant of detto, past participle of dire (“to say”), from Latin dīcō (“to say, to speak”). Not related to English dittography or Italian dito (“finger”). The specific meaning of making copies of paper comes from ditto machine, a genericization from the brand name of a spirit duplicator.

Synonyms

ditto mark ditto sign do. do ape echo

Derived words

dittohead dittoism dittology ditto master dittoship ditto suit ditto worksheet suit of dittoes

Translations

Bulgarian: копие Dutch: kopietje Finnish: kopsu French: copie German: Dublikat German: Kopie Hungarian: másolat Italian: fac-simile Russian: ко́пия Swedish: kopia Turkish: kopya
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