等等 (děng deng) is a noun meaning 'etc.', 'and so on', or 'and others'. Though it consists of two identical characters, the second 等 is toneless in speech — pronounced lightly as 'deng' without a tone mark — signaling its function as a grammatical particle rather than a standalone verb meaning 'to wait'. It’s used to indicate that a list is incomplete, implying there are additional items of the same kind not explicitly named. It often appears at the end of a noun phrase and is common in both spoken and written Chinese, especially in informal or conversational contexts.

The word carries no semantic weight beyond signaling omission; it doesn’t specify how many or what kinds of items follow. Unlike formal equivalents like '諸如此類' (zhū rú cǐ lèi), 等等 is neutral in register and widely accepted in everyday usage — from shopping lists to classroom instructions. It works after nouns, noun phrases, or even verbs when listing actions, but never stands alone as a subject or object without prior context.