twin

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Forming a pair of twins; born at the same birth.

   The twin boys looked exactly alike.

2. 2
   adj

   Existing as a matching pair; double.

   The hotel room had twin beds.

3. 3
   verb

   To link two towns or cities in different countries as official partners.

   Reading, the English town, is twinned with Clonmel in Ireland.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Twin is inherited from Old English and comes from the same ancient source as two. It is historically related to twain, twelve, twenty, and twilight.

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twinne, twynne, from Old English ġetwin, ġetwinn (“twin, multiple”, noun) and twinn (“twin, two-fold, double, two by two”, adjective), from Proto-Germanic *twinaz (“double/two each, twin”), Proto-Germanic *twinjaz, *twīhnaz (“two each”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwino- (“twin”), from *dwóh₁ (“two”). Cognate with Scots twyn (“twin”), Dutch tweeling (“twin”), German Zwilling (“twin”), Danish tvilling (“twin”), Swedish tvilling (“twin”), Faroese tvinnur (“a double set”), Icelandic tvenna (“duo, pair”), Lithuanian dvynys (“twin”), Russian двойня (dvojnja, “twi…

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External links

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