diptych

noun

dip·​tych ˈdip-(ˌ)tik 

1

: a 2-leaved hinged tablet folding together to protect writing on its waxed surfaces

2

: a picture or series of pictures (such as an altarpiece) painted or carved on two hinged tablets

3

: a work made up of two matching parts

Illustration of diptych

• diptych 2

Examples of diptych in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In a room at the French consul general’s, a diptych of palms as long-legged as Paris runway models. —Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025

Initially, the writer-director had wanted Robert Downey Jr. to play Hobie, a married man who falls for the alluring Melinda (Radha Mitchell) in the lighthearted half of Melinda and Melinda’s comedy-drama diptych. —Tim Grierson, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025

On its surface, this disquieting diptych about male anxiety has the feel of, say, an Asghar Farhadi movie, a moral dilemma urging forth a thriller plot. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 25 Jan. 2025

The 2020 diptych of folklore and evermore showed Swift spreading her songwriting wings, and this track — written from the perspective of someone who’s mulling over a holiday fling with a long-ago ex — is one of her best recent offerings. —Maura Johnston, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin diptycha, plural, from Greek, from neuter plural of diptychos folded in two, from di- + ptychē fold

First Known Use

1622, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for diptych

• cryptic
• styptic
• triptych
• tryptic
• apocalyptic
• ecliptic
• elliptic