dvandva

American

[dvahn-dvah, dvuhn-dvuh] / ˈdvɑn dvɑ, ˈdvʌn dvə /

noun

Grammar.

a compound word neither element of which is subordinate to the other, as bittersweet, Anglo-Saxon.

dvandva British

/ ˈdvɑːndvɑː /

noun

a class of compound words consisting of two elements having a coordinate relationship as if connected by and
a compound word of this type, such as Austro-Hungarian, tragicomic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dvandva

1840–50; < Sanskrit, nasalized reduplication of dva two

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We have what we call in Sanskrit dvandva, a series of opposites in creation; such as, the positive pole and the negative, the centripetal force and the centrifugal, attraction and repulsion.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023