twin

 
Pronunciation: /twɪn/

noun

  • 1one of two children or animals born at the same birth: experiments were carried out using sets of identical twins the twins were approaching their third birthday I thought you must have a double or be a twin
  • a person or thing that is exactly like another: there was a bruise on his cheek, a twin to the one on mine
  • (the Twins) the zodiacal sign or constellation Gemini.
  • 2something containing or consisting of two matching or corresponding parts, in particular:
  • a twin-bedded room: the hotel has 54 rooms, of which 4 are twins
  • a twin-engined aircraft.
  • a twinned crystal.

adjective

[attributive]
  • forming, or being one of, a pair born at one birth: she gave birth to twin boys her twin sister
  • forming a matching, complementary, or closely connected pair: the twin problems of economic failure and social disintegration
  • Botany growing in pairs: twin seed leaves
  • (of a bedroom) containing two single beds: we have twin and three-bedded rooms
  • (of a crystal) twinned.

verb (twins, twinning, twinned)

[with object] British
  • link (a town or district) with another in a different country or cause (two towns or districts) to be linked, for the purposes of friendship and cultural exchange: the Russian city of Kostroma is twinned with Durham
  • link; combine: the company twinned its core business of brewing with that of distilling

Origin:

late Old English twinn 'double', from twi- 'two'; related to Old Norse tvinnr. Current verb senses date from late Middle English