noun

duplication

doo-plih-KAY-shun/ˌduːplɪˈkeɪʃn/

The making or presence of a copy or repetition.

The photocopier produces an exact duplication of the geometric drawing.

A photocopier has produced an exact copy of a harmless geometric drawing; the original and output are displayed face up at equal size beside the recognizable copying machine.

Etymology

duLatintwo

+plicLatinto fold

+ationLatinact or process

The roots “two” and “fold,” with an action-noun ending, first expressed the act of doubling. That became making another essentially identical thing, and could also name the resulting copy.

In context

The British Museum18:03

So the duplication of the determinative in a way, it's classifying the noun, but by putting it twice you actually turn it into an adjective.

Learn how to read Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs with Ilona Regulski | Curator's Corner S7 E11

More examples

Careful planning prevents duplication of effort among the teams.
The software checks for accidental duplication of customer records.
The editor removes unnecessary duplication from the report.

Forms

duplication · duplications

duplicate verb — To make another copy of something.

Similar words

copying: Copying names the process, rather than the resulting copy.
repetition: Repetition emphasizes doing or saying something again, not making copies.
redundancy: Redundancy emphasizes unnecessary repetition or excess, rather than copying generally.