8 May 2014

duplicity

[doo-plis-i-tee, dyoo-]

noun, plural du·plic·i·ties for 2, 3.

1. deceitfulness in speech or conduct, as by speaking or acting in two different ways to different people concerning the same matter; double-dealing. Synonyms: deceit, deception, dissimulation, fraud, guile, hypocrisy, trickery. Antonyms: candidness, directness, honesty, straightforwardness.
2. an act or instance of such deceitfulness.
3. Law. the act or fact of including two or more offenses in one count, or charge, as part of an indictment, thus violating the requirement that each count contain only a single offense.
4. the state or quality of having two elements or parts; being twofold or double.

Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English duplicite < Middle French < Medieval Latin, Late Latin duplicitās, with -ite replacing -itās; see duplex, -ity

Related forms
non·du·plic·i·ty, noun

Anagram

lucid pity
cut idyl pi

Today’s aphorism

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.

– George R.R. Martin, A Dance With Dragons

On this day

8 May 1911 – birthday of Robert Johnson. American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.

8 May 1945 – VE day. Victory in Europe – the day that Nazi Germany formally surrendered in World War II.