replicate

replicate — verb

1. To do or create something a second time in a way that is identical to the first

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

To do or create something a second time in a way that is identical to the first version, for instance when checking a scientific finding or repeating a piece of work.

Example

The research team tried to [[replicate]] the earlier findings using a different group of participants.

replicate + noun phrase for validation

Ryo [[replicated]] the experiment three times before he felt confident about the data.

replicate + frequency adverbial

Common collocations
  • replicate results
  • replicate findings
  • replicate a study
  • replicate an experiment
  • replicate a pattern
Synonyms
  • duplicate

    Stronger emphasis on producing an identical copy; more formal and technical than replicate

  • reproduce

    Can mean an exact or approximate copy; also has biological meanings that replicate does not

  • copy

    More informal; often implies imitation rather than scientific exactness

  • repeat

    Focuses on doing something again, not necessarily producing an identical outcome

Antonyms
  • alter

    To change something rather than keep it the same

  • modify

    To make partial changes instead of an exact copy

Grammar Patterns

replicate + noun phrase

replicate + wh-clause

Usage Note

Commonly used in academic and scientific writing to describe checking whether a previous finding can be obtained again. The object is usually a result, finding, study, experiment, or procedure.

Common Mistakes

The cells replicate the virus inside the body.
The virus replicates inside the body.
For cells and viruses, use the intransitive form (sense 2); this sense is transitive and describes a person or agent copying something deliberately.

2. To make more of itself through an automatic process, said of a living cell, a vi

2.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

To make more of itself through an automatic process, said of a living cell, a virus, or a strand of DNA that creates matching copies of its own structure.

Example

The virus can [[replicate]] inside human cells within a few hours of infection.

intransitive: virus/cell + replicate + location adverbial

During the experiment, the bacteria [[replicated]] rapidly in the warm nutrient solution.

intransitive + adverb of speed

Common collocations
  • cells replicate
  • virus replicates
  • DNA replicates
  • replicate rapidly
  • replicate inside cells
  • bacteria replicate
Synonyms
  • reproduce

    Broader term for creating offspring; less specific about exact copying than replicate

  • clone

    Specifically refers to artificial genetic copying; narrower in scope

  • self-copy

    Literal but uncommon outside technical writing

Antonyms
  • degrade

    To break down rather than copy; often used for DNA or proteins

Grammar Patterns

cell/virus/DNA + replicate

replicate + inside/in/within + location

Usage Note

Almost always intransitive — the subject is the thing that copies itself. For passive constructions (e.g., 'the gene is replicated'), the transitive form of sense 1 is used instead.

Common Mistakes

The virus reproduces inside the host.' (using reproduce when replicate is more precise)
The virus replicates inside the host.
In biology, reproduce refers to whole organisms creating offspring, while replicate means making identical copies of genetic material or individual units.

replicate — adjective

replicate — noun

Word family

  • replication
    nounB2
  • replicable
    adjectiveC1
  • replicability
    nounC1
  • replica
    nounB2
  • replicated
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words involve doing something again, but they differ in precision. Duplicate stresses exactness — a duplicated document is identical to the original in every detail. Reproduce is broader: you can reproduce a painting by hand (close but not exact) or reproduce a sound recording (identical). Copy is the most everyday word and can range from legal copying to simple imitation ('She copied her friend's hairstyle'). Repeat simply means to do something once more, without the requirement of exactness — you can repeat a joke but tell it differently each time. Replicate sits between duplicate and reproduce: it strongly implies exactness but is most at home in scientific contexts where checking previous results is the goal. For example: scientists replicate an experiment to verify findings; they duplicate a document for record-keeping; they reproduce a phenomenon in a lab; they repeat a test for practice.

duplicate ↗reproduce ↗copy ↗repeat ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • replicate an experiment
  • replicate the results
  • fail to replicate

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Replicate comes from the Latin verb replicāre, meaning 'to fold back.' It was formed from re- ('back, again') and plicāre ('to fold'). The word was first used in English in the 1500s to mean 'to fold back' or 'to repeat.' By the 1800s it had taken on the sense of making a copy, and in the 1900s it became a standard term in biology for the self-copying of cells and DNA.