dittography

Definition

1. Noun (uncountable)
   • Accidental repetition in writing: "dittography" refers to the unintentional repetition of a letter, word, or phrase by a scribe or copyist when transcribing a manuscript. This error results in a longer text than the original.

Usage Examples

• (Accidental repetitions in the copied text.)
• (The copying error is caused by misreading the source.)

Advanced Usage

• "to correct for dittography": to remove unintentional repetitions during textual criticism.
  • The editor carefully corrected for dittography to restore the original reading. (The editor removed repeated words or letters to fix the copyist's mistake.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dittographic (adj): relating to or characterized by dittography.
  • The dittographic error was obvious because the same line appeared twice. (The repetition was clearly a copying mistake.)

Synonyms

• Repetition error: a mistake where a word or letter is accidentally written twice.
• Duplication: the act of making a copy, but in this context, an unintended copy.

Related Idioms