atween, prep. and adv. arch. and dial.
(əˈtwiːn)
Forms: 5 atwen(e, -eene, 5–6 attwen(e, 7– atween; aphetic 'tween.
[f. a prep.1+ -twene, -tween, stem of be-tween, on analogy of afore before, among bimong, and other twin forms already in OE. Atween is the usual form in north. dial., but only a poetic archaism in the literary language.]
A. prep. Between.
| c 1400 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 27 A-twene theis tweyn a gret comparison. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) i. 442 Atwen myn armys now shall I the embrace. 1579 J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf C v, Assured peace attwene them. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. ii, A season atween June and May. 1842 Tennyson Oriana, Thou comest atween me and the skies. |
† B. adv. In between, between whiles. Obs.
| 1595 Spenser Col. Clout 83 A bonie swaine, That Cuddy hight, him thus atweene bespake. 1596 ― F.Q. IV. vii. 35 From her faire eyes wiping the deawy wet..and kissing them atweene. |