Duplicity - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

du·plic·i·ty

Audio Help [doo-plis-i-tee, dyoo-] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -ties for 1.

1.	deceitfulness in speech or conduct; speaking or acting in two different ways concerning the same matter with intent to deceive; double-dealing.

2.	a twofold or double state or quality.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME duplicite < MF < ML, LL duplicitās, with -ite r. -itās; see duplex, -ity

]

—Synonyms 1. deception, dissimulation. See deceit.

—Antonyms 1. straightforwardness.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Duplicity

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

du·plic·i·ty Audio Help (dōō-plĭs'ĭ-tē, dyōō-) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. du·plic·i·ties

1. Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.
2. An instance of deliberate deceptiveness; double-dealing.
The quality or state of being twofold or double.

[Middle English duplicite, from Old French, from Late Latin duplicitās, doubleness, from Latin duplex, duplic-, twofold; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
duplicity

1433, from M.Fr. duplicite, from L.L. duplicitatem (nom. duplicitas) "doubleness," in M.L. "ambiguity," from duplex (gen. duplicis) "twofold." The notion is of being "double" in one's conduct.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

duplicity
noun
1.	a fraudulent or duplicitous representation [syn: fraudulence]
2.	acting in bad faith; deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Duplicity

Du*plic"i*ty\, n.; pl. Duplicities. [F. duplicit['e], L. duplicitas, fr. duplex double. See Duplex.]

1. Doubleness; a twofold state. [Archaic]

Do not affect duplicities nor triplicities, nor any certain number of parts in your division of things. --I. Watts.

2. Doubleness of heart or speech; insincerity; a sustained form of deception which consists in entertaining or pretending to entertain one of feelings, and acting as if influenced by another; bad faith.

Far from the duplicity wickedly charged on him, he acted his part with alacrity and resolution. --Burke.

3. (Law) (a) The use of two or more distinct allegations or answers, where one is sufficient. --Blackstone. (b) In indictments, the union of two incompatible offenses. --Wharton.

Syn: Double dealing; dissimulation; deceit; guile; deception; falsehood.

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