in twain en · ADP
Etymology
From Middle English in tweyn, in twen, in tweyne (also as on tweyne). Compare Old English on twēġen (“in two”).
Meanings
-
(archaic) In two, in halves, into two parts, asunder
And when cold Winter ſplit the Rocks in twain, And Ice the running Rivers did reſtrain, He ſtripp’d the Bears-foot of its leafy Growth,
1697, trans. John Dryden, Virgil, Georgics, book IV, lines 202–205It was an anomalous situation. Precedents, there were none. No state ever before had been rent in twain.
1913, Warren Wood, When Virginia was Rent in Twain:When the masked stranger hew with his axe, the baker's head did split in twain and his body fell like a lump to the ground in turn.
[…]shortly, it will rend my loins in twain, burst forth, and pull us down, down, down into the deep, dark waters of commitment.
2003, Bill Odenkirk (writer), Kif Kroker in “Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch”, Futurama, season 4, episode 1
Synonyms
Translations (12)
fi kahtia (in halves) · el στα δύο (in halves) · bg наполови́н (in halves) · ru попола́м (in halves) · bg надве́ (in halves) · sv itu (in halves) · ru на полови́ны (in halves) · ru напопола́м (in halves) · bg наполови́на (in halves) · de entzwei (in halves) · grc δίχα (in halves) · nl in tweeën (in halves)