twice, adv. (n., a.)
(twaɪs)
Forms: 2 twiᵹes, 3 (Orm.) twiȝȝess, twiȝess, 4 twiȝes, tuuiȝes; 2–5 twies, 4 twyese, tweis, 4–5 twyys, tweies, 4–6 twyes, twys, Sc. twyss, 4 (7 Sc.) tuis, 4–7 twyse, twise, 5 tweys, 5 (6 Sc.) twyis, tuyse, 5–6 twis, Sc. tuys(s, 6 Sc. twyiss, tweyss, tuyss, tuise, 7 twyce, 5– twice; 6 twyst, 7 twist, 9 dial. twyste, twiste, 9– dial. twicet, twict.
[Late OE. twiᵹes, f. twiᵹe, twie + advb. genitive ending -es; cf. ǽnes, ānes once, þriᵹes thrice.
Twees, given by Kilian as a Du. and Fris. word, may be a similar formation, but Da. dial. t{obar}s, t{obar}se is a reduced form of MDa. t{obar}sser, ON. tvisvar.]
In all senses now the regular substitute for the phrase two times: see two B. I. 1 d.
1. a. Two (successive) times; on two occasions.
| c 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1120 Ðises ᵹeares com þet leoht to Sepulchrum Dni..twiᵹes. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 227 Þat cild his twies acenned. c 1200 Ormin Ded. 104, & tatt he loke wel þatt he An bocstaff write twiȝȝess, Eȝȝwhær þær itt uppo þiss boc Iss writenn o þatt wise. Ibid. 16635 Niss nan mann..Þatt muȝhe Godess riche sen Butt he be borenn twiȝess. 13.. Cursor M. 27912 (Cott. Galba) Als gude war men to ett twise. a 1325 MS. Rawl. B. 520 lf. 54 Tuuiȝes in þe ȝere. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4704 Þe Bretons..had wonnen of Cesar twys. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3721 It a-louted lowe to vs twiȝes. c 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.) 309 In excelsis he neuens twyese. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 421, I nam nouȝte shryuen..tweies in two ȝere. a 1400–50 Alexander 1605 ‘Ay mott he leue, ay mot he leue’, quod ilke a lede twyse. 14.. R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 9018 (MS. β) He smote him tweys on þe heuede. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iv. vii. (Rolls) 462 If he hadde be twies weddid..Eny man tweies weddid. 1473–4 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 47 Passand twis to Sanctandrois and anys to Dunbare. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 303, I wes tuyse maryit. 1526 Tindale Luke xviii. 12, I fast twyse in the weke. 1549 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IX. 280 To the furroure for tuys lynyng of ane goun. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 11 At iij howris ryng twyiss. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 69 Wouldst thou haue a Serpent sting thee twice? 1612 in 2nd Rep. Rec. Irel. 264 Twist or thrist a week. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 350 The swallow..sometimes breeds twice a year. 1789, 1867 Twicet [see once adv. A. γ]. 1839 T. Mitchell Aristoph., Frogs 145 note, [Cinesias] is alluded to twice more in the present play. 1868 Lockyer Elem. Astron. iii. xxxiii. (1879) 195 The sun crosses the equator twice a year at the equinoxes. 1888 Eggleston Graysons i. 15, I wouldn't look at her twiste. 1895 Dialect Notes I. 375 Some other words reported indiviually are{ddd}onct, twīct. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 453 And he interfered twict with my clothing. 1958 E. Birney Turvey v. 48, I los all my good time for climbin the fence twicet. |
b. Strengthened by over (over adv. 13 a).
| 1648 Bp. Hall Serm. Higham Rem. Wks. (1660) Z j b, The justice of God never punished the same sin twise over. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 72 ¶11 The Senior Member has outlived the whole Club twice over. 1721 Ramsay Richy & Sandy 6 This aught days twice o'er tell'd. 1893 Times 29 Apr. 11/3 To tax the owners of property twice over in respect of the same thing. |
c. Contextually: A second time; for the second time.
| 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 4256 Now is ȝhe þer twies quene. 1382 Wyclif Phil. iv. 16 To Tessalonyk ȝe senten oonis and twyes [Tindale, Cranmer, Geneva, once and afterwarde agayne]. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1906) 85 The kynge sente vnto her onis, tuyes, thries. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 148 Now is twyse..me think thow hes forȝet. 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. i. 388 And now this time is twyis. 1582 T. Watson Centurie of Loue lxxxv, I at last, Am now twise free. 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 403 That great Baby..is not yet out of his swathing clouts. Rosin. Happily he's the second time come to them: for they say, an old man is twice a childe. 1633 Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 112 The old word is, that ‘An old man is twice a child’; but I say, happy is he, that is thus a child always. |
d. In phr. once or twice, twice or thrice, used indefinitely: a few times.
| a 1225–c 1450 [see once 8 a]. c 1440 Mandeville (1839) xxv. 261 Ones or twyes in the Woke. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. xix. 58 Do noght þat ofte, but twyes or thryes yn þe ȝeer. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 173 b, Not onely ones or twyse he hath hurted me. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 120 ¶1 He has caught me twice or thrice looking after a Bird's Nest. 1750 Gray Long Story 125 He once or twice had pen'd a sonnet. |
e. to think twice: to consider a matter a second time (before deciding or acting); to deliberate.
| 1623 W. Painter in Oxf. Dict. Eng. Proverbs (1970) 263/1 Thinke twise, then speak, the old Prouerbe doth say. 1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? vii. 277 You thinke twice before you speake, and may be demanded twice before you answer. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. in Tales My Landlord 2nd Ser. IV. viii. 180 If a fule may gie a wise man a counsel, I wad hae him think twice or he mells wi' Knockdunder. 1853 C. Brontë Villette I. viii. 147, I saw in her countenance a something that made me think twice ere I decided. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 56 Do not think twice about it..but say ‘No’. 1890 Spectator 27 Dec. 932/1 He may..think twice before he formally undertakes so unremunerative a struggle. 1910 [see think v. 5 b]. 1934 [see once adv. A. γ]. 1940 H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood ii. i. 137 ‘Seems like Hitler's thinking twicet,’ said a gentleman behind him. |
2. Expressing multiplication by two: Two times in number, amount, or value. a. with a numeral, or a n. or n. phr. expressing quantity: Two times as much as; double of.
| 1308 Song in Ritson Anc. Songs & Ball. (1877) 61 Tak twies ten ifere That wol be tuenti fulle. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 270 In þe date of owre dryȝte..A þousande and thre hondreth tweis thretty & ten. c 1425 Craft of Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 28 Yf þat þou wold wete qwat is twyes 40. 1593 in T. Morris Provosts of Methven (1875) 82 For the haill space of twyss nynetene ȝeiris. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. xv. 408 Any Stranger..must be a great Favourite to get a pair of Shoes of them [Chinese women], tho he give twice their value. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes v. ix. 19 Twice a thousand Gauls aloud proclaim..great Cæsar's name. 1824 Arnold Let. in Stanley Life & Corr. (1844) I. 69, I am twice the man for labour that I have been..for the last year or two. 1826 Henry Elem. Chem. II. 373 These crystals..require..between twice and three times their weight of water at 60°. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 475 Two is twice one. 1926 R. Hughes in Hearst's Internat. Feb. 44/2 Wha'd' you say, Kid, if I'd 'a' matched Coily up wit' some old vet'ran twicet his weight wit' twicet his ring-gener'lship. |
b. In a twofold degree; two times as much; doubly.
Usually with as († so obs.); more rarely with comparative, or (rhetorically) with an adj. of quality.
| [c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 178 Mo þan twenty and two twyes y-noumbred.] 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxv. (1495) mm iv/1 A nombre that hyght Multiplex conteyneth y⊇ lesse nombre twyes or thryes or foure tymes. c 1460 Towneley Myst. viii. 320 We shall þem bond twyse as fast. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xvi. 9 Sum gevis for twyiss als gud agane. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 303 A newe hous..twys so good & double so faire. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 63 Twise vnhappy be those parents that thinke any moneth, day or houre, infortunate for their children to be borne in. 1601 Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) III. 728 The fire is twise more subtile then the aire. a 1774 Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) I. 238 If..the wedge be twice as long..the driver will cleave his wood with twice greater force. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Sutherl. (Colburn) 9 Which..makes beauty doubly winning, and talent twice bewitching. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate iv, I am nearly as old as you are, and I know twice as much of the world. |
3. quasi-n., preceded by a preposition or demonstrative: Two times. (Cf. once 9.) a. with preposition; esp. at twice, on two occasions, in two distinct operations (somewhat rare); † by twice, twofold, doubly (obs. Sc.).
| 1494 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 248 For a rape to the locke at twys,..brokyne wyth towen of the tymmyr. |
| ? a 1500 Wycket (1828) p. xii, Whether is the body of the lorde made at once or at twyse. 1560 Whitehorne Ord. Souldiours (1573) 33 b, A ladle..that will take so muche pouder up at twise or thrise. a 1600 Montgomerie Sonn. lxii. 5 My trumpets tone is terribler be tuyis [rimes wyse, lyis] Nor ȝon couhorne. 1664 J. Wilson Projectors iv, As many Citizens and their Wives at once, as the great Bed at Ware, will hold at twice. 1791 H. Walpole Let. to Miss Berry 29 Jan., I have written this at twice. 1860 Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. iii. iii, ‘Did Mr. Tulliver let you have the money all at once?’..‘No; at twice.’ |
b. with demonstrative word or phrase. rare.
| 1872 Bagehot Eng. Constit. (1878) 100 We reject your Bill for this once or these twice, or even these thrice. 1907 T. Cobb in Story-Teller 93/1 Judging by Lady Kitty's demeanour the last twice they had met. |
4. quasi-adj. Performed, occurring, given, etc. twice; doing something (implied by the n.) twice.
Chiefly with verbal n. or agent-n., the vb. in which is implicitly qualified by twice.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 28 Sommer Barley [is to be sowed] in March or April, after twyse plowing. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia 239 We heard of the twice returne of the Paragon. 1683 Life & Death Ld. Shaftesbury in Select fr. Harl. Misc. (1793) 458 His twice Imprisonment in the Tower. 1876 Freeman Hist. Sk. 83 The twice pilgrim. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. i. 6 Twice meat was forbidden and twice pudding allowed. |
5. a. In combination with pples., forming compound adjs., as twice-baked, twice-bearing, twice-blowing, twice-boiled, twice-conquered, twice-dipped, twice-dyed, twice-given, twice-married, twice-refined, twice-roasted, twice-shelled, twice-sworn, twice-turned (see also twice-born, -laid, -told); rarely with other adjs., as twice-foul, twice-mortal; also † twice-childish a. in one's ‘second childhood’ (cf. quot. 1602 in 1 c); twice-stabbed a. Entom., having two red marks suggesting stabs on the wing-cases, as the twice-stabbed ladybird, Chilocorus bivulnerus (Cent. Dict. 1891); † twice-writhen, Turner's rendering of med.L. bistorta, bistort.
| 1542 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 616/2 Tuyse schelit meill. 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 12 It [Bistort] may be called..twise⁓writhen. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. 304 The twice-foul Raven. 1592 Hooker Eccl. Pol. Pref. ii. §5 These twice-sworne men. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. i. Eden 224 The passage of twice-childish age. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xi. 405 Such as take themselves to be twice-refined. 1700 T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. x. 125 That unpalatable Ragoust, called in Latin Cramben Biscoctum, and in plain English, Twice-boil'd Cabbage. 1705 Pope Jan. & May 110 Twicemarry'd dames. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iv. 765 Faith..dying, tenfold terror gives to death, And dips in venom his twice-mortal sting. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes ii. xvi. 42 The twice-dyed purple. c 1820 S. Rogers Italy, Paestum 89 Paestum's twice-blowing roses. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 568 The twice-bearing red [raspberry]. 1846 H. G. Robinson Odes of Horace ii. xvi, And wool with Afric's dye..Twice-dipp'd. 1851 H. Melville Whale xxvi. 125 As hard as twice-baked biscuits. |
b. In combination with advbs., forming compound advbs. or adjs. (and ns.), as twice-nightly, twice-weekly, twice-yearly.
| 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 133 And let the nodding tempests of verbosity Weekly or twice-weekly whistle round your bottles. 1949 M. Steen Twilight on Floods iv. vi. 611 There was English's.., the first of the twice-nightlies, down in Hackney. 1976 ‘W. Trevor’ Children of Dynmouth v. 102 The cartoonist responsible..was now, in the sunset of his life, himself the recipient of twice-weekly Meals on Wheels. 1980 M. Babson Queue here for Murder iv. 30 The twice-yearly Sales. |
Hence twice v. trans. (nonce-wd. or slang), to make twice as much, to double; to do twice as much as.
| a 1636 C. Fitzgeffrey Compassion towards Capt. ii. (1637) 33 Twice your gift by timely giving it. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 304 We can ‘twice’ you over and over. |