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Synonyms

fraternal twin

American  

noun

  1. one of a pair of twins, not necessarily resembling each other, or of the same sex, that develop from two separately fertilized ova.

Etymology

Origin of fraternal twin

First recorded in 1900–05

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.

If one fraternal twin is autistic, the chance that the other twin is also autistic is about 20%, or about the same as it would be for a nontwin sibling.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025

The results were consistent across both identical and fraternal twin pairs.

From Science Daily • May 8, 2024

Inside, the restaurant resembled a fraternal twin of its former self.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 12, 2022

Mr. Cameron introduced her to his three college friends who were also his roommates, and Ms. Graves introduced him to her fraternal twin sister, Kristin Graves, with whom she shared her apartment.

From New York Times • Jun. 3, 2022

Not the shy girl with the tangled black hair in her face, but instead her fraternal twin brother.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.