Where does “doppelganger” come from?

Doppelgänger comes from German Doppelgänger, from German Gänger, from Middle High German genger, a walker or goer.

doppelganger (English): A ghostly double of a living person, especially...

Definitions

  1. A ghostly double of a living person, especially...

Ancestry of “doppelganger”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanDoppelgängerdoppelganger, doppelgänger
2Germandoppel-duplicate, double; double
3GermanDoppeldoubles; duplicate
4Middle Dutchdubbel
5Frenchdoublédouble, brace, pair; double; doublé
6Middle Frenchdouble
7Old Frenchdobledouble
8Latindūplusdouble (twice as much, or as big)
9Proto-Italic*duplosdouble

Words derived from “doppelganger

Every word from Proto-Italic *duplos