Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The same as stated above or before.
  • noun A duplicate; a copy.
  • noun A pair of small marks ( ″ ) used to indicate that the word, phrase, or figure given above is to be repeated.
  • adverb As before.
  • transitive verb To duplicate (a document, for example).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • As before; in the same manner; also.
  • noun That which has been said; the aforesaid; the same thing: a term used to avoid repetition.
  • noun A duplicate.
  • noun plural A suit of clothes of the same color or material throughout. Also called ditto-suit.

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

  • adverb As before, or aforesaid; in the same manner; also.
  • noun The aforesaid thing; the same (as before). Often contracted to do., or to two “turned commas” (“), or small marks. Used in bills, books of account, tables of names, etc., to save repetition.

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

  • noun That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the same, likewise.
  • noun informal A duplicate or copy of a document.
  • noun A copy; an imitation.
  • noun A symbol, represented by two apostrophes, inverted commas, or quotation marks (" "), when indicating that the item preceding is to be repeated.
  • adverb As said before, likewise.
  • verb transitive To repeat the aforesaid, the earlier action etc.

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

  • verb repeat an action or statement
  • noun a mark used to indicate the word above it should be repeated

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian dialectal, past participle of Italian dire, to say, from Latin dīcere; see deik- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

First attested in 1625. From Italian detto, past participle of dire ("to say"), from Latin dīcō ("I say, I speak").

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Examples

  • May 22, 2009 at 5: 07 AM wow ditto is pretty good - lots of features and I have only a couple of minor problems with it. thanks for the tip! captain_cthulhu

    CopyPasteTool Is A Tiny, Dead-Simple Clipboard Helper | Lifehacker Australia 2009

  • The old man Spector handled himself well with all these nuts, but the majority of his time was wasted as an avenue for a platform to these Limbaugh/Paliin ditto heads (not to) ask pertinent questions, but blather about misapprehensions.

    Specter faces angry crowd at town hall meeting 2009

  • Both derive from the Latin word for house village, a collection of houses, is also linked in English, ditto the “-vile” suffix meaning city.

    Worse than I thought in Iowa - The Panda's Thumb 2006

  • John Hockins begged to "putt the word ditto," and the negro fervently added, "Das so -- me too!"

    The Fugitives The Tyrant Queen of Madagascar Francis B. Pearson 1859

  • The word ditto was first used by a caller on his show who agreed with the accolades given Rush by a previous caller.

    Think Progress 2009

  • The word ditto was first used by a caller on his show who agreed with the accolades given Rush by a previous caller.

    Elections - fresh news by plazoo.com 2009

  • The word ditto was first used by a caller on his show who agreed with the accolades given Rush by a previous caller.

    Think Progress 2009

  • But back to "ditto" -- the enormously successful Ghost would provide Swayze a colossal hit.

    Kim Morgan: Patrick Swayze: 1952-2009 2009

  • I was going to list my choices but since they EXACTLY the ones you chose I'll just say "ditto" - and good picks, by the way.

    Quick, Fun Fantasy Quiz Jeff C 2009

  • Fans were asked to simply say "ditto" - a traditional Limbaugh catchword - to express their support Thursday so they could get on with questions and comments on social and government issues on the national talk show.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Buzz 2010

Comments

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  • From Ghost. Patrick Swayze galore. My sister tells me she used to think Ditto was actually just another way of saying I love you.

    October 22, 2007

  • Also a kind of duplicating machine.

    January 26, 2008

  • Ditto is derived originally from the filipino word DITO which means "here". It gained popular use during the American colonial period in the Philippines specially during census taking when American census takers would write down the family name of several individuals of a single family and the Filipino respondent would say dito, dito at dito as he was pointing to the list of names that share the same family name. The " mark was a short hand way to indicate "same here"

    April 1, 2009

  • Mr. Cruger...at the conclusion of one of Mr. Burke's elequent harangues, finding nothing to add, or perhaps as he thought to add with effect, exclaimed earnestly, in the language of the counting-house, 'I say ditto to Mr. Burke -- I say ditto to Mr. Burke. - Sir James Prior (1790?-1869), Life of Burke, ch. 5.

    September 19, 2009

  • Just saw a video where Ditto is the trade name of a Spirit Duplicator, which is an early document duplicating machine... similar to a mimeograph.

    February 11, 2024