ditto

Ditto is defined as something you say to show you are in agreement or to signify that something you already said can be said again.

(noun)

  1. An example of ditto is what you would say when someone says "I like pie," if you also like pie.
  2. An example of ditto is what you would say when someone was 10 minutes late and then the next person was 10 minutes late.

To ditto is defined as to make copies of something or to repeat an action.

(verb)

An example of ditto is to make copies of a receipt using a Xerox machine.

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See ditto in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun pl. dittos

  1. the same (as something said or appearing above or before)
  2. a duplicate; another of the same
  3. ditto mark

Origin: It (Tuscan), var. of detto, said < L dictus, pp. of dicere, to say: see diction

adverb

as said above; as before; likewise

transitive verb dittoed, dittoing

  1. to duplicate or make copies of
  2. to indicate repetition of, by using ditto marks
  3. to do again; repeat

See ditto in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. dit·tos
  1. The same as stated above or before.
  2. A duplicate; a copy.
  3. A pair of small marks ( ″ ) used to indicated that the word, phrase, or figure given above is to be repeated.
adverb
As before.
transitive verb dit·toed, dit·to·ing, dit·tos
To duplicate (a document, for example).

Origin:

Origin: Italian dialectal

Origin: , past participle of Italian dire, to say

Origin: , from Latin dīcere; see deik- in Indo-European roots

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Word History: Ditto, which at first glance seems a handy and insignificant sort of word, actually has a Roman past, for it comes from dictus, “having been said,” the past participle of the verb dīcere, “to say.” In Italian dīcere became dire and dictus became detto, or in the Tuscan dialect ditto. Italian detto or ditto meant what said does in English, as in the locution “the said story.” Thus the word could be used in certain constructions to mean “the same as what has been said”; for example, having given the date December 22, one could use 26 detto or ditto for 26 December. The first recorded use of ditto in English occurs in such a construction in 1625. The sense “copy” is an English development, first recorded in 1818. Ditto has even become a trademark for a duplicating machine.

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