▪ I. twain, numeral a. and n. arch.
(tweɪn)
Forms: 1 twœᵹen, tueᵹen, 1–2 tweᵹen, twæᵹen, 2 tweiᵹen, 2–3 tweien, 3 tweyen; 2–5 twein, 3–5 tweyne, tweine, twene, (4 tweiyne, tuueine), 4–5 tweyn, 5 tweyne; 4 tuayn, tuain, 4–6 twayne (5 tueyne, thwayne), 5–6 twayn, 6 Sc. twane, 6–7 twaine, (7 Sc. tuaine), 6– twain.
[The modern representative of OE. twéᵹen, the nom. and acc. masc. of the numeral of which the fem. and neuter twá, t{uacu}, remain as two (q.v.). It corresponds to OFris. twêne, twên (mod. Fris. dial. tween, twein, twain), OS. twêna, twêne, OHG. and MHG. zwêne (archaic Ger. zween). In ME. twain ceased to be confined to the masc., and became merely a secondary form of two, used esp. when the numeral followed the n. Its use in the Bible of 1611 and in the Marriage Service, and its value as a rime-word, have contributed to its retention as an archaic and poetic synonym of two. See also the apocopate form tway; and, for the inflexions, two.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.) 1510 Passus, faeðm vel tueᵹen stridi. a 800 Casket 1 in O.E. Texts 127 Twœᵹen ᵹibro⁓þæra, fœddæ hiæ uylif in Romæcæstri. a 900 O.E. Chron. an. 822 Her tueᵹen [Laud MS. twæᵹen] aldormen wurdon ofslæᵹene. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xlii. 37 Ic hæbbe tweᵹen suna. c 1160 Hatton Gosp. Matt. xviii. 20 Ðær tweiᵹen [Ags. G. tweᵹen] oððe þreo synden on minen namen ᵹegadered. c 1175 12th c. Hom. (Bodley) 86 Tweȝen þisseræ dæle habbæð deor & nyten. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 41 Heo tweien eoden et sume time in to helle. Ibid. 85 He haueð..þa twein peneȝes. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 5 Tweien oðer tocumes of ure helende. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 276/168 Tweyen faire wommen. a 1325 MS. Rawl. B. 520 lf. 81 Noȝt..bi tuueine assoines a sullen sollemnen suuche ane assoine. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 194 And þei schullen be tweiyne in o flesch. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1963 (Ariadne) It was longynge to the doughteren tweyne. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 151 By twene [v.r. tweye] burgeys of Londoun. c 1400 Gamelyn 734 (Harl. MS.) To his tweyne bretheren anon-right he cam. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. xlii, With..wommen tueyne. c 1425 Cursor M. 523 (Trin.) [Þe] heed wiþynne haþ eȝen tweyn [Cott., Gött. tuin; F. twyn; rime certeyn]. c 1440 Generydes 155 It was be twix them thwayne. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 193 Rent, to be paid..at twayne termes in the yere. 1503 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 172 Haill, Roiss, both reid and quhyt,..of michty cullouris twane. 1511–12 Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 23 §5 Lettres..to twayn of his honourable Counseillours. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 165 The vertues..of bothe twain. 1548 Forrest Pleas. Poesye 61 b, Wee shall deuyde it into lessons twayne. 1675 Hobbes Odyssey iv. 470 But of the Princes lost are only twain. 1784 Cowper Task i. 77 The soft settee..received, United yet divided, twain at once. 1897 May Kendall in Longm. Mag. Aug. 340 Forth went..Soldiers twain. |
(β) Abnormal genitive pl.: her tweyners = of them two. (After alleris, altheris, botheris: see all D. 4, both A. 4 b.)
| c 1450 Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 125 And of her tweyners metyng Here gynnyth the proces. |
B. Signification. = two. I. adj.
1. In concord with a n., etc. a. Preceding the n. Now rare.
| c 725– [see A.]. c 1205 Lay. 8144 Þeos tweien cnihtes. Ibid. 12255 Twene ibroðeren. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 310 Whanne tweyne horis stryvede whos was þe child. 1382 Ibid. 512 A þousand and tweyn hundrid ȝeer. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 167 There be tweyne Mauritanyes, that firste is Mauritany Cesariense, whiche hathe at the este of hit Numidia. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1906) 162 It might be proued..by tweyn witnessis. c 1460 Wisdom 1077 in Macro Plays 71 In twayn myghtys of my soule I the offendyde. 1554 Cdl. Pole in Eng. Hist. Rev. July (1913) 528, I have recevyd twayne yowr lettres. 1870 R. Buchanan Bk. Orm iv. 89 Thy blue eyes twain stars. 1871 F. W. Newman Iliad xiii. 201 The twain full arm'd Aiantes. |
b. poet. Following the n.
Chiefly for the sake of a rime.
| 13.. Cursor M. 4032 Þir breþer tuain þam tok to red. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 106 Godefrey of Louayn,..Bi messengers tuayn sent to kyng Henry, For his douhter Adelayn. c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 334 Let this flod enduren yeres twaine. c 1440 R. Gloucester's Chron. 1099 Þo adde king lud..ȝonge sones tueie [MS. δ tweyne]. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 671 On cok for hennys tweyne. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 174 Whylom dyuyded in sondry kyngdomes twayne. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxiii. 26 Hir bricht fair ene twane. 1700 Dryden Cock & Fox 717 The trembling widow, and her daughters twain. 1724 Swift To Delany Wks. 1755 IV. i. 46 Where we find the members twain. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 123 The bottles twain..Were shatter'd at a blow. 1843 Neale Hymns for Sick (1863) 42 He loved the sisters twain. 1846 Keble Lyra Innoc. (1873) 147 Five loaves hath he, And fishes twain. 1860 Longfellow Wayside Inn, Saga K. Olaf iv. 23 She had given the ring to her goldsmiths twain, Who smiled, as they handed it back again. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxxviii. i, Brothers twain has Gallus. |
2. a. Absolutely with ellipsis of n., or following a pronoun or pronominal adjective.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xviii. 20 ᵹyf tweᵹen of eow ᵹeþwæriað..be ælcum þinge. c 1160, c 1175 [see A.]. c 1275 Passion of Our Lord 243 in O.E. Misc. 44 Þer arysen tweyne and bigunne to speke. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2507 Se what sorwe he suffres to saue vs tweine! 1401 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 27 What betokeneth that ye goe tweine and tweine togither? 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. x. 87 Of the tweyne he had leuer kyng Lotte had be slayne than kynge Arthur. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 143, I shall wryte a worde or twayne. 1596 Edward III, iv. v. 82 Which of these twaine is greater infamie? 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 438 All his Lords, the Duke of Millaine And his braue sonne, being twaine. 1657 Howell Londinop. 322 They had six..Meeting places,..twain in Bridge Street,..twain in Old Fish Street, and twain in Stock-Fishmonger Row. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. vii, We will pray him..to tarry a day or twain. 1847 Tennyson Princ. vii. 271 These twain..Sit side by side. 1881 ― Cup ii. i. 37 That the world may know You twain are reconciled. |
b. in († on) twain: into two parts or pieces, in two, asunder.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. ix. (1495) 54 The vertue of apprehendynge..is departed in tweyne. 1415 E.E. Wills (1882) 23 Y wolle hit be parted on tweyne. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 58 Or þei be fulli partide on tweyne. c 1440 Generydes 2632 With that stroke he brake his sheld on twayn. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxviii. (Percy Soc.) 197, I have thought long Sithen the time that we parted in twayne. 1598 Mucedorus ii. iv. 77 To cut in twaine the twisted thread. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 202 Cold Winter split the Rocks in twain. 1798 S. Lee Canterb. T., Yng. Lady's T. II. 145 The marble fountain..was cloven in twain. a 1862 Buckle Misc. Wks. (1872) I. 84 The nation was..severed in twain by..religious faction. |
† c. U.S. Naut. Two fathoms. Esp. in phr. mark twain, the two fathom mark on a sounding-line. Cf. mark n.1 12 b. Obs.
| 1799 J. W. Russell in R. D. Paine Romance Old Time Shipmaster (1907) iii. 43 The man in the chains suddenly sung out ‘quarter less twain’, and we instantly struck. 1863 ‘Mark Twain’ in A. B. Paine Mark Twain (1912) I. xl. 221, I want to sign my articles..‘Mark Twain’. It is an old river term, a leads-man's call, signifying two fathoms—twelve feet. 1947 E. M. Mack Mark Twain in Nevada xv. 228 How many times when he was on the River had he heard the leadsman..call out, ‘By the mark, twain!’ |
3. With special connotations. (Cf. one III.) a. Separate, parted asunder; disunited, estranged, at variance. (Only in predicate.)
| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xxxvi, We two must be twaine, Although our vndeuided loues are one. 1611 Sir W. Mure Misc. Poems iv. 28 Ȝit in a breist sall both our herts no more at all be tuaine. 1619 Drayton Idea ix, Reason and I (you must conceive) are twaine. 1671 Milton Samson 929 Thou and I long since are twain. 1844 Talfourd Athenian Capt. iv. i, Henceforth we are twain. |
b. Consisting of two parts or elements; double, twofold. rare.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. i. (1495) f viij/2 A chylde borne, y{supt} was tweyne in y⊇ ouer partye & one in the nether partye. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 132 Hope and shame, Twain help,..unto her spirit came. |
II. n.
† 1. The abstract number two. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxiii. (1495) mm iij b/1 Superfluus is the nombre y{supt} hath partyes that maketh a greter nombre than itself:..one, tweyne, thre [etc.]. c 1425 Craft of Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 9 Þou mayst not draw sex out of 2. But þou mayst draw 2 out of sex. And þou maiste draw twene out of twene. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues x. 51/6 Ung, deux, trois, one, tweyne, thre. |
2. A group of two; a pair, couple.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 555 Horns which some men guess to be of the Unicorns..because they are found several, never by twains. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 104 To blesse this twaine, that they may prosperous be. 1816 Byron Let. to Moore 24 Dec., You received my other twain of letters. 1843 S. Bamford Homely Rhymes etc. (1864) 71 The twain of young lovers have tarried behind. |
3. pl. Twins. dial.
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Besson, twaines. 1897 J. Hammond Cornish Parish ix. 199, I remark in 1699 three entries of ‘twains’ out of 76 births. Ibid. xix. 344 Instead of ‘twins’, [we say] ‘two twains’. |
III. Comb.: twain-cloud, a name for the cumulostratus; † twain-edged a. = two-edged.
| 1382 Wyclif Heb. iv. 12 The word of God is..more able for to perse than al tweyne eggid swerd. 1823 T. Forster Res. Atmospheric Phenomena i. §7. (ed. 3) 20 Of the Cumulostratus or Twaincloud. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm I. 246 Why..the heaped stratus [should be called] the twain-cloud is by no means obvious, unless..[as] being composed of two clouds,..but, on the same principle, the cirro-cumulus, and the cirro-stratus and the cumulo-stratus may be termed twain-clouds. |
▪ II. † twain, v. Obs.
[f. twain a. or n.]
trans. To part or divide in twain; to put apart, separate.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 251 Fro we in twynne wern towen & twayned, I haf ben a Ioylez Iuelere. 15.. Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) I. 20 (Add. MS.) Nowe will I make the firmamente,..For to be a devidente To twayne [Harl. MS. 2124 twyne] the watters. Ibid. II. 151 My people of Jewes he wulde twayne. ? 17.. Clerk Saunders xii. in Child Ballads (1886) II. 159 It wear great sin this twa to twain. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion iii. vi, Who twains What once was one. 1900 Crockett Joan Sw. Hand xxxix, You may slay my husband, but he is mine still. You cannot twain our souls. |
b. intr. for refl. or pass. To separate.
| 15.. Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) I. 18 (Add. MS.) Lightnes and darcknes, I byde you tweyne [Harl. MS. 2124 twyn; rimes begin, myn, in]. |