Twins

How to spell twins

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce twins

What does twins mean?

1. nounTwo children or offspring born to the same mother at the same birth.

Twins in a sentence

• The twins were born just ten minutes apart.

• Raising newborn twins left the couple exhausted but happy.

Where does twins come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English getwinn, meaning 'a pair of children born at one birth', which traced back to twinn, an adjective meaning 'double' or 'twofold'. That sense of doubling came from the same ancient root as the number two, and you can still hear the connection in related words like 'twine' (thread doubled and twisted together) and 'between' (literally 'by two'). For centuries the word also carried the broader idea of anything paired or matched, not just siblings. The plural 'twins' simply adds the regular English -s ending, and because the base already ends in a clear consonant, the spelling stays straightforward. The everyday closeness of 'twin' to 'two' is a handy reminder that the word is fundamentally about pairs.

How the word is built

• twin (one of two born together, from Old English twinn 'double, twofold')
• -s (plural)