| dittography |
| Definition: The incorrect repetition of letters or words when making a written copy of a text. Note: A repeated letter of this type is called a dittograph. |
| Example: When making the first written copy of the Ten Commandments, the scribe accidentally writes: "Thou shalt not not kill." |
| Etymology: The term derives from a Greek word meaning "double writing." |
| Oxford English Dictionary: Its first citation
is from 1876: "The ge may be merely a scribal error—a repetition (dittography) of the preceding ge." (H. Sweet A.S. Rdr. Notes (1879) 202) |