different between twee vs tweed

English

Etymology

From a childish pronunciation of sweet. The Oxford English Dictionary records the first use in 1905 in Punch.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /twi?/
• Rhymes: -i?

Adjective

twee (comparative more twee or tweer, superlative most twee or tweest)

1. (Britain, derogatory) Overly quaint, dainty, cute or nice.

   Those Beatrix Potter animals are a little twee for my taste.

Synonyms

• cutesy (US)
• precious
• saccharine
• syrupy

Related terms

• twee pop

Anagrams

• ewte, weet

Afrikaans

Alternative forms

• twé (obsolete)

Etymology

From Dutch twee, from Middle Dutch twee, twe, from Old Dutch tw?, neuter form of tw?ne, from Proto-West Germanic *twai-, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tv???/, /tve?/

Numeral

twee

1. two

Anagrams

• weet

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?e?/
• Hyphenation: twee
• Rhymes: -e?

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch twêe, from Old Dutch tw?, neuter form of tw?ne, from Proto-West Germanic *twai-, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh?i.

Numeral

twee

1. two

Derived terms

• tweebaans
• tweehonderd
• tweetal
• tweetalig
• tweetallig
• tweebenig

Descendants

• Afrikaans: twee

Etymology 2

Noun

twee f (plural tweeën, diminutive tweetje n)

1. two

Anagrams

• weet
• wete

Low German

Alternative forms

• twei (Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch)

Etymology

From Middle Low German twê, from Old Saxon twene (“two”).

Numeral

twee

1. two

Coordinate terms

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch tw?, neuter form of tw?ne, from Proto-West Germanic *twai-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twe?/

Numeral

twêe

1. two

Descendants

• Dutch: twee
• Limburgish: twei, twieë
• Zealandic: tweê

Further reading

• “twee”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “twee”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN

Plautdietsch

Etymology

From Middle Low German twê, from Old Saxon twene (“two”).

Numeral

twee

1. two, twain

English

Etymology

Attested since the 1830s. Probably a shortening or back-formation from Scots tweedling (“a type of twilled cloth”), attested since the 16th century and related to tweedle; the two words are variants of tweeling and tweel, which go back to Middle English twel, twyle (“a type of woven fabric; twill”), whence also English twill. Scottish tradition says it derives directly from tweel when an English merchant misread tweels or tweeled (cloth) in an 1831 letter from a Scottish merchant as Tweed(s) and took it to be a trade-name based on the River Tweed, but the DSL says evidence for this is lacking, and because English merchants must have been familiar with tweel(ed cloth) before the 1830s, it seems unlikely to be based on misunderstanding tweel rather than on the well-attested tweedle. Several of the earliest citations, from 1839, 1841, and 1845 treat it as a new name for a familiar cloth.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twi?d/
• Rhymes: -i?d

Noun

tweed (countable and uncountable, plural tweeds)

1. A coarse woolen fabric used for clothing.
   • 1839, Great Britain. Central Criminal Court, Central Criminal Court. Minutes of Evidence, page 75:

     MICHAEL NOWAK, alias John Mazurkiewiez, was indicted for stealing, on the 15th of April, 2 1/4 yards of woollen cloth, called tweed, value 12s., and 2 1/4 yards of woollen cloth, called doe-skin, value 17s., […]

Translations

References

Anagrams

• dewet, dweet, tewed

Finnish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English tweed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?i?di/, [?t??i?di]

Noun

tweed

1. tweed (fabric)

Declension

Synonyms

• tweedkangas

Derived terms

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twid/

Noun

tweed m (uncountable)

1. tweed

Further reading

• “tweed” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Portuguese

Noun

tweed m (uncountable)

1. tweed (coarse woolen fabric)

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?twid/, [?t?wið?]

Noun

tweed m (uncountable)

1. tweed