Where does “dupe” come from?
Dupe comes from French duper, derived from Middle French duppe, a word of unknown ultimate origin.
dupe (English): A person who has been deceived; To swindle,...
Definitions
- A person who has been deceived; To swindle,...
Ancestry of “dupe”, step by step
dupe traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French duper
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | duper | to trick, fool, dupe |
| 2 | Middle French | duppe | — |
| 3 | French | huppé | crested; upper-crust, posh |
| 4 | Latin | upupa | hoopoe |
| 5 | Old Saxon | uppa | above |
| 6 | Old Norse | á | river; Alternative form of ær; on |
| 7 | Proto-Norse | ᚨᚾ | on |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | ana | on, at; on, onto; ana |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂en- | on, onto |
via English duplicate
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | duplicate | Being the same as another; identical; In which... |
| 2 | Latin | duplicātus | doubled, duplicated |
| 3 | Latin | duplicō | to double, multiply by two, duplicate; repeat; enlarge, increase, exaggerate |
| 4 | Latin | duplex | twofold, double; bipartite, cloven; ambiguous |
| 5 | Latin | plico | I fold, bend or flex; I roll up; I arrive |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | plekāō | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pleḱ- | to fold, plait, weave |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pel- | to cover, to wrap; skin, hide, cloth; to fold |