ditto
/ˈdɪtoʊ/noun, adverb, verb, interjection
ditto is spelled D-I-T-T-O: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “dido vs ditto” about 30 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, ditto means “That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the same, likewise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ditto is dittos or dittoes.
How many letters and syllables are in ditto?
| Letters | 5: D-I-T-T-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.4 times per million words; the 17,587th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is ditto?
Ditto appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ditto?
- UK /ˈdɪtəʊ/
- US /ˈdɪtoʊ/
- US [ˈdɪɾoʊ]
Ditto has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ditto.ogg, En-au-ditto.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with ditto
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: dido.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of ditto
- dittos plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- dittoes plural
- dittoing participle, present
- dittoed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ditto mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the same, likewise.
- 2
The ditto mark, 〃; a symbol, represented by two apostrophes, inverted commas, or quotation marks (" "), indicating that the item preceding is to be repeated.
- 3
A suit of clothes of the same color throughout.
- 4
A copy made by (run off by) a ditto machine (especially, a worksheet thus reproduced).
Please run off twenty-four dittos of this assignment for my students.
- 5
A copy; an imitation.
adverb
- 1
As said before, likewise.
verb
- 1
To repeat the aforesaid, the earlier action etc.
- 2
USTo make a copy using a ditto machine.
interjection
- 1
Used as an expression of agreement with what another person has said, or to indicate that what they have said equally applies to the person being addressed.
I'm really busy today! –Ditto!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate ditto?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of ditto: do, do..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ditto in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | idem, dito , copie |
| German | dito , Dublikat, Kopie , Unterführungszeichen |
| Portuguese | dito, de acordo, idem |
| Spanish | ídem , signo de ídem |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ditto come from?
First attested in 1625. From regional Italian ditto, variant of detto, past participle of dire (“to say”), from Latin dīcō (“to say, to speak”). Not related to English dittography. The specific meaning of making copies of paper comes from ditto machine, a genericization from the brand name of a spirit duplicator.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).