different between twin vs gemel

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English gemow, from Old French gemel, from Latin gemellus, diminutive of geminus (“twin”). The modern form is influenced by the Latin etymon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d??m?l/
• Rhymes: -?m?l

Noun

gemel (plural gemels)

1. (now rare) A twin (also attributively).
   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 197:

     half a million which Demon considered henceforth as a loan his cousin should certainly refund him if sanity counted for something on this gemel planet.

2. (heraldry) One of a pair of small bars placed together.
   • 1698, John Strype, Life of the learned Sir Thomas Smith

     two gemells silver between two griffins passant

3. (historical) A finger ring which splits into two horizontally.

Adjective

gemel (not comparable)

1. (heraldry) Coupled; paired.

   Bars gemel, or two barrulets placed near and parallel to each other.