TWIN (twinned, twinning)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: twinned    , twinning   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Twin mean? 

• TWIN (noun)
  The noun TWIN has 4 senses:

1. either of two offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancy

2. (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Gemini

3. a waterfall in the Snake River in southern Idaho

4. a duplicate copy

  Familiarity information: TWIN used as a noun is uncommon.

• TWIN (adjective)
  The adjective TWIN has 1 sense:

1. being two identical

  Familiarity information: TWIN used as an adjective is very rare.

• TWIN (verb)
  The verb TWIN has 4 senses:

1. duplicate or match

2. bring two objects, ideas, or people together

3. grow as twins

4. give birth to twins

  Familiarity information: TWIN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TWIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Either of two offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("twin" is a kind of...):

sib; sibling (a person's brother or sister)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "twin"):

dizygotic twin; fraternal twin (either of two twins who developed from two separate fertilized eggs)

identical twin; monozygotic twin; monozygous twin (either of two twins developed from the same fertilized ovum (having the same genetic material))

Derivation:

twin (give birth to twins)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Gemini

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Gemini; Twin

Hypernyms ("Twin" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain category:

astrology; star divination (a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A waterfall in the Snake River in southern Idaho

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Twin; Twin Falls

Instance hypernyms:

falls; waterfall (a steep descent of the water of a river)

Holonyms ("Twin" is a part of...):

America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

Snake; Snake River (a tributary of the Columbia River that rises in Wyoming and flows westward; discovered in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A duplicate copy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

counterpart; similitude; twin

Hypernyms ("twin" is a kind of...):

duplicate; duplication (a copy that corresponds to an original exactly)

Derivation:

twin (duplicate or match)

• TWIN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Being two identical

Synonyms:

duplicate; matching; twin; twinned

Similar:

matched (going well together; possessing harmonizing qualities)

• TWIN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they twin    ... he / she / it twins   
Past simple: twinned   
Past participle: twinned   
-ing form: twinning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Duplicate or match

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

duplicate; parallel; twin

Context example:

The polished surface twinned his face and chest in reverse

Hypernyms (to "twin" is one way to...):

agree; check; correspond; fit; gibe; jibe; match; tally (be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

twin (a duplicate copy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bring two objects, ideas, or people together

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

couple; match; mate; pair; twin

Context example:

The student was paired with a partner for collaboration on the project

Hypernyms (to "twin" is one way to...):

join (cause to become joined or linked)

Verb group:

match (give or join in marriage)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "twin"):

mismate (provide with an unsuitable mate)

mismatch (match badly; match two objects or people that do not go together)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Grow as twins

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

twin crystals

Hypernyms (to "twin" is one way to...):

grow (increase in size by natural process)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Give birth to twins

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "twin" is one way to...):

bear; birth; deliver; give birth; have (cause to be born)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

twin (either of two offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancy)

 Context examples 

So if the Sun has a twin, it's almost certainly not easily visible in our neighborhood.

(Our Sun Could Have Been Born With an Evil Twin Called "Nemesis", The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched 16 days apart in 1977.

(Sun sends more 'tsunami waves' to Voyager 1, NASA)

You also are in the middle of two eclipses—one arrived last month, on December 25, and its twin will arrive on January 10. (Eclipses almost always come in pairs).

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

They also evaluated 88 non-twin children diagnosed with autism.

(Children’s visual engagement is heritable and altered in autism, National Institutes of Health)

Patterns of metal uptake were compared using teeth from 32 pairs of twins and 12 individual twins.

(Baby teeth link autism and heavy metals, NIH)

My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old at the time of my mother’s re-marriage.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Studies of twins have shown that variation in body weight is largely influenced by our genes.

(Slim people have a genetic advantage when it comes to maintaining their weight, University of Cambridge)

Kate is older than you, Fred and Frank (twins) about my age, and a little girl (Grace), who is nine or ten.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Researchers took blood samples from 11 pairs of identical twins with different sleep patterns and discovered that the twin with shorter sleep duration had a depressed immune system, compared with his or her sibling.

(Chronic Sleep Deprivation Suppresses Immune System, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Twin studies have in the past shown that various sleep-related traits, including insomnia, are heritable.

(Can't Sleep? Could Be Down to Genetics, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)