Link Centre Dictionary

twice

UK/twaɪs/ US/tw̥aɪs/ common

adverb

1.

two times

  • “I called her twice”
2.

to double the degree

  • “she was doubly rewarded”
  • “his eyes were double bright”
Synonyms

Origin

From earlier twise, from Middle English twies, twiȝes, from Old English twīġes (“twice”), from twīwa, twīġa ("twice"; whence Middle English twie (“twice”)) + -es (adverbial genitive ending). Related to Saterland Frisian twäie (“twice”), Middle Low German twiges, twies (“twice”), Middle High German zwies (“twice”). Equivalent to twi- (“(in) two; both”) + -ce. Similarly constructed to the prefixes bis- and dis-, borrowed from Indo-European cognates.

Phrases

  • a broken clock is right twice a day
  • a stopped clock is right twice a day
  • any day of the week and twice on Sunday
  • any day of the week and twice on Sundays
  • at twice
  • buy nice or buy twice
  • buy the same horse twice
  • even a stopped clock is right twice a day

Related words

Word family

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.