different between comparative vs twin

English

Etymology

From Middle French comparatif, from Latin comparativus, equivalent to comparatus, from comparare (“to compare”) + -ive, from Latin -ivus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k?m?pæ?.?.t?v/
• (General American) enPR: k?m?p?r-?-t?v
  • (Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /k?m?pæ?.?.t?v/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /k?m?p??.?.t?v/
• (Mary–marry–merry distinction)
• (Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Hyphenation: com?par?a?tive

Adjective

comparative (comparative more comparative, superlative most comparative)

1. Of or relating to comparison.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

   • 1773, James Burnett, Of the Origin and Progress of Language

     that kind of animals that have the comparative faculty, by which they compare things together, deliberate and resolve

2. Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it.

3. Approximated by comparison; relative.
   • 1837, William Whewell, History of the Inductive Sciences

     The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.

   • 1692, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism

     This bubble, […] by reason of its comparative levity to the fluid that encloses it, would necessarily ascend to the top.

4. (obsolete) Comparable; bearing comparison.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.137:

     And need he had of slumber yet, for none / Had suffered more—his hardships were comparative / To those related in my grand-dad's Narrative.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

comparative (plural comparatives)

1. (grammar) A construction showing a relative quality, in English usually formed by adding more or appending -er. For example, the comparative of green is greener; of evil, more evil.
2. (grammar) A word in the comparative form.
3. (chiefly in the plural) Data used to make a comparison.
4. (obsolete) An equal; a rival; a compeer.

   • Gerrard ever was / His full comparative.

5. (obsolete) One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit.
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Pt. 1, III.ii.67:

     Every beardless vain comparative.

Synonyms

• (grammar: degree): comparative degree

Translations

Related terms

• absolute, absolute superlative, relative superlative, comparative superlative
• degrees of comparison
• superlative

See also

• contrastive

References

• “comparative”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ?ISBN
• “comparative” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "comparative" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Anagrams

• vampire taco

French

Adjective

comparative

1. feminine singular of comparatif

Italian

Adjective

comparative

1. feminine plural of comparativo

Anagrams

• comparivate
• crepitavamo

Latin

Adjective

compar?t?ve

1. vocative masculine singular of compar?t?vus

References

• comparative in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

English

Alternative forms

• twynne (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• enPR: tw?n, IPA^(key): /tw?n/, [tw??n]
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English twinne, twynne, from Old English ?etwin, ?etwinn (“twin, multiple”, noun) and twinn (“twin, two-fold, double, two by two”, adjective), from Proto-Germanic *twinjaz, *twinaz (“two each”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwino- (“twin”), from *dwóh? (“two”). Cognate with Scots twyn (“twin”), Dutch tweeling (“twin”), German Zwilling (“twin”), Swedish tvilling (“twin”), Faroese tvinnur (“a double set”), Icelandic tvenna (“duo, pair”), Lithuanian dvynys (“twin”), Russian ?????? (dvojnja, “twin”).

Noun

twin (plural twins)

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.
2. Either of two similar or closely related objects, entities etc.
3. A room in a hotel, guesthouse, etc. with two beds; a twin room.
4. (US) A twin size mattress or a bed designed for such a mattress.
5. (aviation) A two-engine aircraft.
6. (crystallography) A twin crystal.

Synonyms

• twindle, twinling, doublet (in the sense of twins and triplets)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• twyndyllyng
• (hotel room): single, double
• twain

Verb

twin (third-person singular simple present twins, present participle twinning, simple past and past participle twinned)

1. (transitive, obsolete outside Scotland) To separate, divide.
2. (intransitive, obsolete outside Scotland) To split, part; to go away, depart.
3. (usually in the passive) To join, unite; to form links between (now especially of two places in different countries).

   • Still we moved / Together, twinned, as horse's ear and eye.

4. (intransitive) To be paired or suited.
5. (intransitive) To give birth to twins.
6. (intransitive, obsolete) To be born at the same birth.

See also

• sister city

Etymology 2

From Middle English *twin, *twyn, from Old English twin, twinn (“twin; double”, adjective), from Proto-Germanic *tw?hnaz (“occurring in a pair; twofold; double”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh? (“two”). Cognate with Icelandic tvennur (“double”), Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (tweihnai, “two each”).

Adjective

twin (not comparable)

1. double; dual; occurring as a matching pair

2. forming a pair of twins.

Synonyms

• (forming a matched pair): twofold; see also Thesaurus:dual

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• twin in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• twin in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• twin at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Wint

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twin/

Adjective

twin

1. Alternative form of twinn

Declension