twain
adjective
two.
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twain
1 American
[tweyn]
/ tweɪn /
adjective
Twain
2
American
[tweyn]
/ tweɪn /
noun
Twain
1
British
/ tweɪn /
noun
-
Mark , pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens . 1835–1910, US novelist and humorist, famous for his classics The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
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Shania (ʃəˈnaɪə), real name Eilleen Regina Edwards. born 1965, Canadian country-rock singer; her bestselling recordings include The Woman In Me (1995) Come On Over (1997), and UP! (2002)
twain
2
British
/ tweɪn /
determiner
Etymology
Origin of twain
before 900; Middle English twayn originally, nominative and accusative masculine, Old English twēgen ( cf. two); cognate with obsolete German zween
Explanation
If you want an old-fashioned way to talk about two things, use the noun twain. You might lament that your pair of dogs was divided in twain when you had to give one of them away. The word twain is hardly ever used these days, so you're most likely to see it in an old book of poetry, or in the phrase "never the twain shall meet." This saying means that two people — or groups of people — are so unlike each other that they'll never manage to see things the same way. The origin of twain is the Old English word for two, twegen.
Vocabulary lists containing twain
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 3
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The Merchant of Venice
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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.
See Examples For:
That’s why, if you don’t want your house cleaved in twain, diagnosing your trees is best left to a certified arborist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
As long as the twain never meet, we’re good — and by we, I mean humankind.
From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2024
“This is one of the evils of the ‘two cultures’ myth,” he says: Some students are channeled into scientific subjects, and others into humanities, and “never the twain shall meet.”
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 18, 2023
Writing was writing, art was art, and never the twain should meet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2022
And at Batavia High School, never the twain shall meet.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Parton has been honored in musical tributes by Carrie Underwood, Alison Krauss and Shania Twain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
On Monday, the Official Charts Company said the album was on course to top this week's album chart, fending off competition from Snow Patrol, Shania Twain and The Strokes.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Along with Mark Twain, Church was one of 19th-century America’s most intrepid globetrotters, and Johnson follows him everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Twain bought the retreat for $3,250,000 in the early 1990s, then refurbished and expanded the 28,000-square-foot residence to add a recording studio.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
I am named after the Mark Twain character, by the way.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
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.
