different between twee vs tween

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

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -i?n

Etymology 1

Clipping of in between.

Noun

tween (plural tweens)

1. (animation) An action of tweening (inserting frames for continuity); a sequence of frames generated by tweening.
   • 2004, Andy Anderson, Mark Del Lima, Steve Johnson, Show Me Macromedia Flash MX 2004, page 237:

     Because the results of a shape tween can be unpredictable, you can set shape hints to let Flash know how to proceed with the tween.

Verb

tween (third-person singular simple present tweens, present participle tweening, simple past and past participle tweened)

1. (cinematography) To generate intermediate frames in an animated sequence so as to give the appearance of smooth movement.
   • 2005, Ellen Finkelstein, Gurdy Leete, Macromedia Flash 8 For Dummies, page 191,

     Simple motion tweening moves your objects in a straight line from here to there. […] You can also combine frame-by-frame animation with tweened animation.

   • 2012, Christopher Griffith, Real-World Flash Game Development, 2nd Edition, page 113,

     The first parameter is the object that you want to tween, and the second parameter is the amount of time you want it to take in seconds.

Derived terms

• tweener

Translations

Etymology 2

Blend of twenties +? between

Noun

tween (plural tweens)

1. A person in their twenties, between 20 and 29 years old.
   • 1954 "The Fellowship of the Ring", J.R.R. Tolkien

     At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.

Synonyms

• twentysomething
• vicenarian

Etymology 3

Blend of teen +? between

Noun

tween (plural tweens)

1. A child, usually a girl, in the age range between young childhood and adolescence, normally between eight and thirteen years of age.
   • 2002 March 2, Billboard, Volume 114, Number 9, page 70,

     When Play Along — the holder of the Care Bears master toy license — placed Care Bears plushes in Spencer Gifts last year, tweens and teenage girls bought the toys.

   • 2004, Lisa Johnson, Andrea Learned, Don't Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy--And How to Increase Your Share of This Crucial Market, page 5,

     This grade school thinking forgets that tweens are one of the most sophisticated groups of consumers in the marketplace, and that kids this age have zero tolerance for being treated like children.

   • 2006 Twenty Something Essays by Twenty Something Writers page 113

     Next stop on the worthless train is the tweens who range from ages ten to thirteen years old. The tweens are so damn annoying, they make me want to jump off a cliff.

   • 2011, Hollie Smith, You and Your Tween: Managing the years from 9 to 13, Netmums, unnumbered page,

     However, if we worry too much about feeding our tweens, and if we show them we're worried, we could be passing on some unhealthy messages.

   • 2015 MKTG page 63

     America's tweens (ages eight to twelve) are a population of more than twenty million.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:preteen
• teenybopper

Derived terms

• tweendom

Hypernyms

• preadolescent
• pre-teen

Adjective

tween (comparative more tween, superlative most tween)

1. Of or having to do with tweenagers.

Anagrams

• Wente, wente