duck typing

noun

A style of dynamic typing in which an object's current set of methods and properties determines the valid semantics, rather than its inheritance from a particular class or implementation of a specific interface.

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Meanings

nounduck typing (uncountable)
  1. uncountablecomputingA style of dynamic typing in which an object's current set of methods and properties determines the valid semantics, rather than its inheritance from a particular class or implementation of a specific interface.

    Ruby proponents call this duck typing::^([sic]) if the variable responds to a message that asks it to quack like a duck and it quacks, it must be a duck. This is clearly different from the way that Java (and other strongly typed languages) work, […]

    2006, Neal Ford, Scott Davis, No Fluff, Just Stuff Anthology: The 2006 Edition, page 16

Origin

From the so-called duck test: “if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.”

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish ankkatyypitys
  • ankkatyypitysTranslations
French duck typing
  • duck typingTranslations
German Duck-Typing
  • Duck-TypingTranslations
Polish duck typing
  • duck typingTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

duck typing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duck%20typing

MLA

“duck typing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duck%20typing. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “duck typing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duck%20typing.

Source: duck typing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.