atwain

American  

[uh-tweyn] / əˈtweɪn /

adverb

Archaic.

1. in twain; in two; apart.

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Etymology

Origin of atwain

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; a- ¹, twain

Example Sentences

The galleys hastened to give it a tow, but some cables were snapped atwain; and their efforts were in vain, for the sea and winds prevented the work.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 16 of 55 1609 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Robertson, James Alexander

Thy father hath given the cloak to me, wherefore then hast thou cut it atwain?

From Tales from the Old French by Various

So forcible, indeed, was this last one that I thought the lid was cleft atwain.

From Four Short Stories By Emile Zola by Zola, Émile

Ah, Phrygian fates that shear my fates atwain!

From The Æneids of Virgil Done into English Verse by Morris, William

Cut then atwain With sword of wisdom, Son of Bharata!

From The Song celestial; or, Bhagabad-gîtâ (from the Mahâbhârata) being a discourse between Arjuna, prince of India, and the Supreme Being under the form of Krishna by Arnold, Edwin, Sir