twin
1 Americannoun
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twins
plural
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either of two children or animals brought forth at a birth.
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either of two persons or things closely related to or closely resembling each other.
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Also called twin room. a type of hotel accommodation with twin beds, for occupancy by two persons.
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Also called hemitrope. Crystallography. a compound crystal consisting of two or more parts or crystals definitely oriented each to the other; macle.
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Astronomy, Astrology. Twins, the constellation or sign of Gemini.
adjective
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being a twin or twins.
twin sisters.
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being two persons or things closely related to or closely resembling each other.
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being one of a pair; identical.
a twin bracelet; a twin peak.
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consisting of two similar parts or elements joined or connected.
a twin vase.
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Botany, Zoology. occurring in pairs; didymous.
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Crystallography. of the nature of a twin; hemitrope.
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twofold or double.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish a counterpart to or a replica of; match.
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Informal. to divide or convert into two, parts, similar items, etc..
The old movie palace will be twinned, making two smaller theaters.
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Informal. to link or combine with.
The new grocery store is twinned with a restaurant.
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Crystallography. to form into a twin.
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Obsolete. to give birth to as twins.
verb (used without object)
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to give birth to twins.
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to be paired or coupled.
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to match or resemble someone or something in a specific way, and to acknowledge this resemblance: Check out these photos of moms and daughters twinning!
They are twinning so hard right now.
Check out these photos of moms and daughters twinning!
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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either of two persons or things that are identical or very similar; counterpart
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( as modifier )
twin carburettors
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Also called: macle. a crystal consisting of two parts each of which has a definite orientation to the other
verb
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to pair or be paired together; couple
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(intr) to bear twins
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(intr) (of a crystal) to form into a twin
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archaic (intr) to be born as a twin
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(tr)
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to create a reciprocal relation between (two towns in different countries); pair (a town) with another in a different country
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(intr) (of a town) to be paired with a town in a different country
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One of two offspring born of a single gestation. Identical twins result from the division of a fertilized egg. Fraternal twins result from the fertilization of two separate eggs at the same time.
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A crystal structure consisting of two intergrown crystals that are mirror images of each other. Mineral twins can form as result of defective crystal growth in response to stress from rock deformation or during magma cooling.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of twin
First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective twynne, twinne, Old English adjective twinn “twofold, double”; noun and adjective getwinn “double,” (plural getwinnas “twins”); akin to Old Frisian twīna, twīne “two together,” Old Norse tvinnr “double,” Gothic twaihnái “two each”
Explanation
When mammals have two babies at once, each of them is a twin. If you have a twin brother or sister, the two of you are always the same age. There are identical twins, who have the same DNA, and fraternal twins, who are more like two siblings who happen to be born at the same time. It's more common to describe humans as twins than other animals. The adjective twin can also describe a pair of things, like the twin chocolate cakes you serve at your birthday party or the "Twin Cities" in Minnesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
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:
The twin takeovers would also require Monte dei Paschi shareholders to forgo the current share price premium from the Intesa offer, Equita adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Serú Girán and Texas Tornados are probably the twin pillars, but beyond that?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The quake comes less than two months after twin quakes devastated the north of neighbouring Venezuela, killing more than 6,100 people.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, rely on radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which produce electricity from heat released by decaying plutonium.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
“I bet Marisol kicks her big fat behind out and she has to sneak back in here like a sewer rat,” Delia told Velia, flopping down next to her twin on the bed.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Sisters Anita Marie and Maria Francine, biological twins with the Sisters of Notre Dame, stood at the door to the ICE office wearing their traditional habits.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
George, 65, Amal, 48, and their 9-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella, live in the town of Brignoles in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of southeastern France.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
In December, the French government announced that the Clooneys, including their 9-year-old twins, Ella and Alexander, were awarded citizenship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Fertility organizations have urged clinics in recent years to limit surrogate pregnancies to one embryo, citing higher risks of carrying twins or triplets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Had the twins done this to get him in trouble?
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Jet engines, factories and even executives have been twinned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Months at first, then anniversaries, birthdays twinned in the mental calendar with dates of death.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2024
And I suppose these twinned non-endorsements did make sense, if you’ve been tracking the trajectory of these two newspapers—and the news business in general—over the past few years.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2024
Congress held hearings in 2020 investigating the twinned tragedies in Ethiopia and Indonesia, crashes caused primarily by engineering mistakes at Boeing.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
My nail-bitten fingers twinned with his, pale and webbed with purple veins.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
But all those efforts at twinning are a bit futile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
As part of their visit to the city the King and Queen Consort will also visit Liverpool Central Library to officially mark its twinning with Ukraine's first public library, the Regional Scientific Library in Odesa.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2023
Because two to three weeks after conception, twinning might occur.
From Washington Post ● May 18, 2022
Jessica Beck, a curator at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, came up with the idea of twinning the artists as a way of reintroducing Marisol and showing the overlap of ideas and influence.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2022
On the refrains her voice spun, twinning and mixing with my own.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
