duplex

[ doo-pleks, dyoo- ]

noun

1. duplex apartment.
2. duplex house.
3. paper or cardboard having different colors, finishes, or stocks on opposite sides.
4. Printing.
   1. a method of reproducing an illustration using two halftone plates, one black and the other in a color.
   2. a printing press equipped to print both sides of a sheet in one pass.
5. Genetics. a double-stranded region of DNA.

adjective

1. having two parts; double; twofold.
2. (of a machine) having two identical working units, operating together or independently, in a single framework or assembly.
3. pertaining to or noting a telecommunications system, as most telephone systems, permitting the simultaneous transmission of two messages in opposite directions over one channel.

verb (used with object)

1. to make duplex; make or change into a duplex:

   Many owners are duplexing their old houses for extra income.

duplex

/ ˈdjuːplɛks /

noun

1. a duplex apartment or house
2. a double-stranded region in a nucleic acid molecule

adjective

1. having two parts
2. machinery having pairs of components of independent but identical function
3. permitting the transmission of simultaneous signals in both directions in a radio, telecommunications, or computer channel

Derived Forms

• duˈplexity, noun

Other Words From

• du·plexi·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of duplex¹

1810–20; < Latin: twofold, double, equivalent to du ( o ) two + -plex -plex

Word History and Origins

Origin of duplex¹

C19: from Latin: twofold, from duo two + -plex -fold