twin Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun either of two offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancy
  2. noun (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Gemini
    Gemini.
  3. noun a waterfall in the Snake River in southern Idaho
    Twin Falls.
  4. noun a duplicate copy
    counterpart; similitude.
  5. verb duplicate or match
    duplicate; parallel.
    • The polished surface twinned his face and chest in reverse
  6. verb bring two objects, ideas, or people together
    pair; couple; mate; match.
    • This fact is coupled to the other one
    • Matchmaker, can you match my daughter with a nice young man?
    • The student was paired with a partner for collaboration on the project
  7. verb grow as twins
    • twin crystals
  8. verb give birth to twins
  9. adjective satellite being two identical
    twinned; duplicate; matching.

WordNet

Twin adjective
Etymology
OE. twin double, AS. getwinne two and two, pl., twins; akin to D. tweeling a twin, G. zwilling, OHG. zwiniling, Icel. tvennr, tvinnr, two and two, twin, and to AS. twi- two. See Twice, Two.
Definitions
  1. Being one of two born at a birth; as, a twin brother or sister.
  2. Being one of a pair much resembling one another; standing the relation of a twin to something else; -- often followed by to or with. Shak.
  3. (Bot.) Double; consisting of two similar and corresponding parts.
  4. (Crystallog.) Composed of parts united according to some definite law of twinning. See Twin, n., 4.
Twin noun
Definitions
  1. One of two produced at a birth, especially by an animal that ordinarily brings forth but one at a birth; -- used chiefly in the plural, and applied to the young of beasts as well as to human young.
  2. pl. (Astron.) A sign and constellation of the zodiac; Gemini. See Gemini.
  3. A person or thing that closely resembles another.
  4. (Crystallog.) A compound crystal composed of two or more crystals, or parts of crystals, in reversed position with reference to each other. ✍ The relative position of the parts of a twin may be explained by supposing one part to be revolved 180° about a certain axis (called the twinning axis), this axis being normal to a plane (called the twinning plane) which is usually one of the fundamental planes of the crystal. This revolution brings the two parts into parallel position, or vice versa. A contact twin is one in which the parts are united by a plane surface, called the composition face, which is usually the same as the twinning plane. A penetration twin is one in which the parts interpenetrate each other, often very irregularly. Twins are also called, according to form, cruciform, geniculated, etc.
Twin intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Twinned ; present participle & verbal noun Twinning
Definitions
  1. To bring forth twins. Tusser.
  2. To be born at the same birth. Shak.
Twin transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To cause to be twins, or like twins in any way. Shak.
    Still we moved Together, twinned, as horse's ear and eye. Tennyson.
  2. To separate into two parts; to part; to divide; hence, to remove; also, to strip; to rob. Obs.
    The life out of her body for to twin. Chaucer.
Twin intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To depart from a place or thing. Obs. "Ere that we farther twin." Chaucer.

Webster 1913