Literary word: two
Twain is an archaic or literary word meaning two, usually implying a pair that has been divided or separated: never the twain shall meet.
The phrase suggests two things so different they cannot be reconciled or brought together.
Outside this expression, twain survives mainly in nautical contexts and deliberate archaism. (Capitalized Twain is most often the pen name of American author Mark Twain.)
IDEA.org / Words / twain
Literary word: two
Twain is an archaic or literary word meaning two, usually implying a pair that has been divided or separated: never the twain shall meet.
The phrase suggests two things so different they cannot be reconciled or brought together.
Outside this expression, twain survives mainly in nautical contexts and deliberate archaism. (Capitalized Twain is most often the pen name of American author Mark Twain.)
1. idiom — meet, Come into contact; parting (Act of leaving another); never (At no point); asunder (Into separate pieces); cloven · split · divide · separate · shall · east · west · cleave · rend · sunder
2. archaic — pair, Two matching things; couple (Two linked together); dual (Having two parts); binary (Consisting of two parts); twofold · both · divided · split · asunder · parted · sundered · cleft · severed · bifurcated
NUMERICAL QUANTITYtwain ≠ one Lowest positive integer; single · singular · whole · unity · none
unity versus divisiontwain ≠ one Lowest positive integer; whole · united · unified · singular · together
Mark Twain; Shania Twain
number words: pair, duo, trio, quartet, quintet; Archaisms: thee, thou, thy, thine, ye; archaic words: thee, thou, thy, thine, tis; archaic adverbs: anon, betimes, ere, erstwhile, forsooth; archaic English: thou, thee, thy, thine, ye; old measures: bushel, cubit, dram, ell, fathom
twains
Word data: Linguabase (CC0) · www.idea.org/words/twain