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PlainSpell

twine

/twaɪn/noun, verb

twine is a noun meaning “A twist; a convolution” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled T-W-I-N-E and has one syllable, and it appears about once in every 1 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of twine is twines.

What does twine mean?

noun

  1. 1

    A twist; a convolution.

  2. 2

    A strong thread composed of two or three smaller threads or strands twisted together, and used for various purposes, as for binding small parcels, making nets, and the like; a small cord or string.

  3. 3

    The act of twining or winding round.

  4. 4

    Intimate and suggestive dance gyrations.

verb

  1. 1

    To weave together.

  2. 2

    To wind, as one thread around another, or as any flexible substance around another body.

  3. 3

    To wind about; to embrace; to entwine.

  4. 4

    To mutually twist together; to become mutually involved; to intertwine.

  5. 5

    To wind; to bend; to make turns; to meander.

  6. 6

    To ascend in spiral lines about a support; to climb spirally.

    Many plants twine.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo turn round; to revolve.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo change the direction of.

  9. 9

    Alternative form of twin (“to separate”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce twine?

  • /twaɪn/

Twine has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-twine.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of twine

  • twines plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • twyne
  • twining participle, present
  • twined participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is twine?

Twine appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Words people confuse with twine

Also written: twin.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Twine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtorsion, convolution (a twist; a convolution), ficelle (strong thread)
GermanWindung, Verschlingung, Drehung, Ranke, Wicklung (a twist; a convolution), Kordel (strong thread)
Spanishcircunvolución, torsión (a twist; a convolution), cordel, cuerda, guita (strong thread), entrelazar (the act of twining)
Portuguesecordel, barbante (strong thread)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does twine come from?

From Middle English twyn, twyne, twin, from Old English twīn (“double thread, twist, twine, linen-thread, linen”), from Proto-West Germanic *twiʀn (“thread, twine”), from Proto-Germanic *twiznaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dwisnós (“double”), from *dwóh₁ (“two”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).