Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In astronomy, the frequent apparent doubling of the canals of Mars. It is still debated whether the phenomenon represents a real fact on the planet's surface or is merely optical or visual.
  • noun In anatomy, the union or fusion of two contiguous teeth caused by the uniting of two tooth-pulps.
  • noun A doubling; duplication; repetition.
  • noun Specifically In rhetoric, immediate repetition of a word, generally with added emphasis: as
  • noun [Repetition after one or two intervening words is also accounted gemination: as, again and again.
  • noun Also calleddiplasiasmus andepizeuxis.
  • noun In philology: The doubling of an originally single consonant through the influence of a following consonant or vowel, as in Anglo-Saxon sittan(originally sitian), fenn(originally feni, Gothic fani), etc.; less properly used of mere orthographic doubling, as in hammer, matter, etc.
  • noun A pair of letters so doubled.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun rare A doubling; duplication; repetition.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun phonetics A phenomenon when a consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than is done normally.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the doubling of a word or phrase (as for rhetorical effect)
  • noun the act of copying or making a duplicate (or duplicates) of something

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin geminātiō ("a doubling").

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