Doublets are words in a given language that go back to the same etymological source but look different because they arrived at their present state by different routes. For example, count and compute are doublets who share the common Latin root computare, meaning "to calculate." Count entered English in the 14th century as a borrowing of the Anglo-French word counter, which can be traced back to computare. On the other hand, compute was borrowed directly from Latin in the 17th century. Another set of doublets is dignity and dainty. Both words can be traced back to Latin dignitas, meaning "worth," and both arrived in English through Anglo-French, but they developed from different words. Dignity is from the Anglo-French word digneté, meaning "privilege" or "honor," and dainty is from Anglo-French deinté, meaning "pleasure."
The following is a small sampling of some interesting doublets in the English language. We hope to pique your interest in doublets and egg you on to find more—there are many to discover.