This week’s theme
Self-referential words

This week’s words
monosemous
double-barreled
exolete
pentasyllabic
back-form

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(duhb-uhl BAR-uhld)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Having two barrels mounted side by side, as in a gun.
2. Having two parts, purposes, impacts, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

From double, from Old French duble/doble (double), from Latin duplus (twofold), from duo (two) + barrel, from Old French baril, from Latin barriclus (small cask). Earliest documented use: 1709.

NOTES:

Should you get a double-barreled name? Here’s some perspective from around the world: Australian, British, German, and New Zealand. What are your thoughts? Do you have a double-barreled name? How has it been treating you? A triple- or quadruple-barreled name? Have you blended two or more names? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org.

USAGE:

“She has a past as a spoiled rich girl and a double-barreled surname to go along with it.”
Maya Corrigan; The Tell-Tale Tarte; Kensington Books; 2017.

See more usage examples of double-barreled in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: