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:
Declonius Peck, its beloved editor-in-chief, has gone to prison for embezzlement, and his evil twin, Salton, has assumed management of the family business, along with the 39 editors who curate the periodical.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
She knows all too well how crucial a support network is after her twin boys, George and Henry, were stillborn in 2018.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
To pick a historically similar moment to ChatGPT, the S&P 500 was beating its equal-weighted twin by an almost identical amount the same number of trading days after Yahoo’s 1996 initial public offering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
The Seattle-based artist, Bliss Kolb, previously told the shop that “he would be willing to part with Molly’s twin for $15,000.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
She and her twin unrolled the bills, laying them in neat stacks over a flat rock a few feet away.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
The actor froze her eggs at age 37 and became pregnant with her twins a decade later, she recalled to Women’s Health in 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
She then put the property on the market for $29.9 million in May, just two months before her youngest children, twins Knox and Vivienne, celebrated their 18th birthdays.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
Trying to open a can of sardines could’ve gravely injured them had the twins not gotten into a screaming match in the process.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Nogbou founded Leeds Baby Bank in 2017 when she was a single parent of four children, including twins, and she realised how many other families were struggling.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
The twins immediately tried to stand and turn around, though they had been told a hundred times to stay in their seats.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
“The expanded tournament, twinned with its geographical span, means that it’s by far the most emissions-intensive World Cup that we’ve ever seen,” Daley said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Is it this twinned violence and fecundity that feeds our dread?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Laki-Laki, which means "man" in Indonesian, is twinned with the calmer but taller 1,703m named Perempuan, the Indonesian word for "woman".
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2025
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
Our lives were a series of actions twinned with “just in case” reactions.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
But all those efforts at twinning are a bit futile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Andy Burnham said Manchester has a twinning arrangement with Wuhan, which was the epicentre of the Covid pandemic.
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 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
His spirit, depleted by his own depredations, pulsed too fast through his veins, twinning with a whirr and discordant jangle of...of disbelief crashing against evidence, producing a sensation of disfaith.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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