Dictionary

twice en · ADV

Pronunciation

• [tw̥aɪs]
• (US) audio
• /twaɪs/

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Two times.
   • No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. (1947, Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 1)
   • He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
   • Malay is the lingua franca of several Southeast Asia countries and has been simplified by its use as a second language by non-native speakers. For example, the Malay plural is formed by repeating a word twice – buku means book and buku-buku means books. 2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2022:
   • I've done with my tirade. The world was gone; / The twice two thousand, for whom earth was made, / Were vanish'd to be what they call alone 1824, Lord Byron, “Canto the Thirteenth”, in Don Juan:
   • Santa Claus is coming to town / He’s making a list, / And checking it twice, / He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice / Santa Claus is coming to town 1934, J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”:
   • You should brush your teeth twice a day.
2. (not-comparable, of a specified quality, usually, with "as") Doubled in quantity, intensity, or degree.
   • Thus it appears that if the machine is turning twice as slow as before, there is more than twice the former quantity in the rising buckets; and more will be raised in a minute by the same expenditure of power. 1826, John Nicholson, The Operative Mechanic, and British Machinist: Being a Practical Display of the Manufactories and Mechanical Arts of the United Kingdom, volume 1, H.C. Carey & I. Lea, page 78:
   • This was eventually absorbed in the enlarged Victoria Station which was brought into use at the end of March, 1884, providing twice as much platform accommodation as the old one. 1957 October 14, M. D. Greville and G. O. Holt, “Railway Development in Manchester—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 731:
   • MARY: As you go from left to right, each example has twice as many twos; from right to left, twice as few. 1952, Peter Lincoln Spencer, Building mathematical concepts in the elementary school, page 139:
   • Both men and women with higher qualifications were twice as less likely to be unemployed than their less qualified counterparts. 1995, Louise Corti, Heather Laurie, Shirley Dex, Highly Qualified Women, Great Britain. Dept. of Employment, page 18:
   • You can't get anything thinner than a spring shad, unless you take a couple of them, when, of course, they will be twice as thin. 1896, Livingston Stone, Domesticated Trout: How to Breed and Grow Them, 4th edition, page 304:

Antonyms

thrice · once

Deriveds

every day of the week and twice on Sundays · what happens twice happens thrice · lightning never strikes twice in the same place · opportunity seldom knocks twice · twice-stabbed stink bug · lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place · twice-baked bread · lightning never strikes the same place twice · twice-laid · once a man, twice a child · money won is twice as sweet as money earned · twice removed · hit the ball twice · once a man, twice a boy · twice-borrowed · at twice · twicer · twice-told · think twice · any day of the week and twice on Sundays · a stopped clock is right twice a day · even a stopped clock is right twice a day · twice as less · once a woman, twice a child · I don't chew my cabbage twice · buy nice or buy twice · twice-exceptionality · a broken clock is right twice a day · you can't step in the same river twice · twicet · I don't boil my cabbage twice · twice-weekly · twice-yearly · lightning does not strike twice in the same place · first cousin twice removed · twice-exceptional · measure twice and cut once · lightning never strikes twice · once or twice · the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long · twice twice · buy the same horse twice · any day of the week and twice on Sunday · every day of the week and twice on Sunday · strike twice

Hypernyms

often · sometimes

Relateds

frequency · once · thrice · two-time

Synonyms

doubly · twice · twicet · double · two times · twofold · bis

Translations (95)

pl dwukrotnie (two times) · mi -rua (two times) · es el doble de (doubled in quantity, intensity, or degree) · hi दोगुना (two times) · fi kahdesti (two times) · ka ორჯერ (two times) · ca dues vegades (two times) · lv divas reizes (two times) · eo duoble (doubled in quantity, intensity, or degree) · ckb دووجار (two times) · hu kétszer (two times) · hu dupla (two times) · ja 二倍 (two times) · ga dhá uair (two times) · ko 두번 (two times) · it due volte (two times) · es doblemente (two times) · is tvisvar (two times) · enm twie (two times) · cy dwywaith (two times) · fr deux fois (two times) · xfa pis (pis) (two times) · ar مرتين (two times) · uk двічі (two times) · ga faoi dhó (two times) · ru два́жды (two times) · gd dà uair (two times) · fa دوبار (two times) · he פעמיים \ פַּעֲמַיִם (two times) · es bis (two times) · zu kabili (two times) · unm nishën (two times) · enm twies (two times) · bg дваж (two times) · mnc ᠵᡠᠸᡝᠩᡤᡝᡵᡳ (two times) · mi taurua (two times) · ja 二回 (two times) · nl twee keer (two times) · ml രണ്ടുതവണ (two times) · pt duplamente (two times) · fi kaksi kertaa (two times) · cmn 两倍 (two times) · br div wech (two times) · grc δίς (two times) · nl tweemaal (two times) · el δις (two times) · ml ഇരട്ടി (two times) · ms dua kali (two times) · bg два пъти (two times) · he שְׁתֵּי פְּעָמִים (two times) · sk dvakrát (two times) · grc δυάκις (two times) · de doppelt (two times) · lv divreiz (two times) · de zweimal (two times) · et kaks korda (two times) · ang tweowa (two times) · pdt tweemol (nds) (two times) · ru два ра́за (two times) · eo dufoje (two times) · lb zweemol (two times) · hy երկու անգամ (two times) · ca dos cops (two times) · sa द्विस् (two times) · pt duas vezes (two times) · ar مَرَّتَيْن (two times) · lt dukart (two times) · la bis (two times) · hi दोहरा (two times) · ajp مرتين (two times) · ja 二度 (two times) · kw diwweyth (two times) · es dos veces (two times) · hi दुकना (two times) · aii ܬܲܪܬܹܝܢ ܓܵܗܹ̈ܐ (two times) · hu duplán (two times) · cs dvakrát (two times) · ceb makaduha (two times) · nci ōppa (two times) · es el duplo de (doubled in quantity, intensity, or degree) · lt du kartus (two times) · hy երկիցս (two times) · cmn 兩次 /两次 (two times) · hi दुगना (two times) · gl dúas veces (two times) · ceb kaduha (two times) · cic hitokla' (two times) · da to gange (two times) · sv två gånger (two times) · tl makalawa (two times) · sh dváput (two times) · sh два́пут (two times) · sl dvakrat (two times) · nb to ganger (two times) · is tvívegis (two times)