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:
On the nights of January 8 and 9, twin sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi joined thousands of others in protests against the Iranian authorities in the central city of Isfahan.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
The blunt family lawyer had been representing Greg Gillespie, an Arizona man Owens had accused in a different lawsuit of trying to coerce her into aborting a twin pregnancy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
That’s how much of my time it was taking before,” said David Rudy, talent manager, producer and father of 6-month-old identical twin boys who employs a house manager.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Kremlev, 43, is also heavily involved in an organization called Healthy Fatherland, run by his 23-year-old wife’s twin sister.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
“To Valley Pepperhorn, I present twin crystal blades! Forged from the tears of a star and made once every five hundred years, in honor of her exceptional fighting and monstruo-tracking skills.”
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
They dissected Laura Owens’s claim that she was carrying Echard’s twins and grew suspicious when a photo surfaced of her at a horse show with no apparent baby bump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Barbu married a Romanian woman, Maria, in 2004 and had twins, who are now adults.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
"The Moon and Earth are more like fraternal twins."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
The power couple have three children, daughter Blue Ivy, 14, and 9-year-old twins, Rumi and Sir.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
I only remember the twins because Emma introduced us last week at dinner.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Is it this twinned violence and fecundity that feeds our dread?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
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
Letters painted in black welcomed drivers to "Pot Hole City - twinned with Grand Canyon".
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2024
Sabres and pistols and fencing foils, each twinned with another, prepared for dozens of potential duels.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
But all those efforts at twinning are a bit futile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
In 1980, he was involved in flying the Palestinian flag from the offices of Dundee Council, and was involved in the twinning of Dundee with the West Bank town of Nablus.
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2024
There’s a case to be made for the twinning of these events.
From Washington Post ● May 19, 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.
