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twin

/twɪn/noun, verb, adjective

twin is spelled T-W-I-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, twin means “Either of two people (or, less commonly, animals) who shared the same uterus at the same time; one who was born at the same birth as a sibling” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of twin is twins.

How many letters and syllables are in twin?

Letters4: T-W-I-N
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing22 times per million words; the 4,015th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is twin?

Twin appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th 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).

How do you pronounce twin?

  • /twɪn/
  • [tʰw̥ɪn]

Twin 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: En-us-twin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with twin

Also written: twine.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of twin

  • twins plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • twinning participle, present
  • twinned participle, past

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

What does twin mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Either of two people (or, less commonly, animals) who shared the same uterus at the same time; one who was born at the same birth as a sibling.

    twin girls, twin daughters, twin sisters, twin boys, twin sons, twin brothers, twin babies, twin children

  2. 2

    Either of two similar or closely related objects, plans, institutions, people, etc.

    Your idea is the twin of mine.

  3. 3

    Either of two or more things, people, etc. that share a single feature.

    He is my twin (wearing the same shirt, driving the same car, etc.).

  4. 4

    slangA friendly term of address, typically for men.

    Yo, twin, lemme rap at ya.

  5. 5

    A room in a hotel, guesthouse, etc. with two beds; a twin room.

  6. 6

    A twin crystal.

  7. 7

    A two-engine aircraft.

  8. 8

    USA twin-size mattress.

verb

  1. 1

    To separate, divide.

  2. 2

    To split, part; to go away, depart.

  3. 3

    To join, unite; to form links between (now especially of two places in different countries); to pair with.

    Reading, the English town, is twinned with Clonmel in Ireland.

  4. 4

    To give birth to twins.

  5. 5

    To be, or be like, a twin to (someone else); to match in some way.

  6. 6

    To be, or be like, a pair of twins (for example, to dress identically); to be paired or suited.

adjective

  1. 1

    Double; dual; occurring as a matching pair.

    twin beds, twin socks

  2. 2

    Forming a pair of twins.

    the twin boys

noun

as Twin
  1. 1

    A player who plays for the Minnesota Twins.

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

Twin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchjumeau, jumelle (either of two people who shared the same…), twin (hotel room with two beds)
GermanZwilling, Zwillingin (either of two people who shared the same…), Doppelzimmer (hotel room with two beds), Zwillings- (forming a pair of twins)
Portuguesegémeo, gémea, gêmeo, gêmea (either of two people who shared the same…)
Spanishgemelo, gemela, mellizo (dizygotic), melliza (dizygotic), chachagua, chacho (either of two people who shared the same…)

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 twin come from?

From Middle English twinne, twynne, from Old English ġetwin, ġetwinn (“twin, multiple”, noun) and twinn (“twin, two-fold, double, two by two”, adjective), from Proto-Germanic *twinaz (“double/two each, twin”), Proto-Germanic *twinjaz, *twīhnaz (“two each”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwino- (“twin”), from *dwóh₁ (“two”).

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

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