dwo-

Two.

Derivatives include twilight, biscuit, between, combine, diploma, and doubt.

I. Variant form *duwo.

1.

a. two, from Old English twā̆, two (nominative feminine and neuter);

b. twain; twayblade, from Old English twēgen, two (nominative and accusative masculine). Both a and b from Germanic *twa, two.

2. twelfth, twelve, from Old English twelf, twelve, and twelfta, twelfth, from Germanic compound *twa-lif-, “two left (over from ten),” twelve (*-lif-, left; see leikʷ-).

II. Adverbial form *dwis and combining form *dwi-.

1.

a. twibill, twilight, from Old English twi-, two;

b. zwieback, zwitterion, from Old High German zwi-, twice. Both a and b from Germanic *twi-.

2. bi-¹, bis; balance, barouche, bezel, biscuit, bistort, from Latin bis (combining form bi-), twice.

3. di-¹, from Greek dis (combining form di-), twice.

4. twist, from Old English -twist, divided object, fork, rope, from Germanic *twis.

5. twice, from Old English twige, twiga, twice, from Germanic *twiyes.

6. twenty, from Old English twēntig, twenty, from Germanic compound *twēgentig, “twice ten” (*-tig, ten; see dekm̥).

7. twine, from Old English twīn, double thread, from Germanic *twīhna, double thread, twisted thread.

8. between, betwixt, twixt, from Old English betwēonum and betweox, betwix, between, from Germanic compounds *bi-twīhna and *bi-twisk, “at the middle point of two” (bi, at, by; see ambhi).

9. twill, from Old English twilic, woven of double thread, from Germanic compound *twilic-, “two-threaded fabric.”

10. Suffixed form *dwis-no-.

a. twin, from Old English twinn, getwinn, two by two, twin, from Germanic *twisnaz, double;

b. bi-¹, binal, binary; combine, pinochle, from Latin bīnī, two by two, two each.

11. Suffixed form *dwi-ko-. twig¹, from Old English twigge, a branch, from Germanic *twig(g)a, a fork.

12. Compound *dwi-plo-, twofold (*-plo-, -fold; see pel-²). diplo-, diploe, diploid, diploma; anadiplosis, diplodocus, from Greek diploos, diplous, twofold.

13. Suffixed reduplicated form *dwi-du-mo-. didymium, didymous; epididymis, from Greek didumos, double, the testicles.

14. Suffixed form *dwi-gha. dichasium, dicho-, from Greek dikha, in two.

III. Inflected form *duwō.

1. deuce¹, dozen, dual, duet, duo, duo-; duodecimal, duumvir, from Latin duo, two.

2. duad, dyad; dodecagon, hendiadys, from Greek duo, duō, two.

IV. Variant form *du-.

1. Compound *du-plo-, twofold (*-plo-, -fold; see pel-²). double, doublet, doubloon, duple, from Latin duplus, double.

2. Compound *du-plek-, twofold (*-plek-, -fold; see plek-). duplex, duplicate, duplicity; conduplicate, from Latin duplex, double.

3. Suffixed form *du-bhw-io-. doubt, dubious; redoubtable, from Latin dubius, doubtful (< “hesitating between two alternatives”), and dubitāre, to be in doubt.

 

[Pokorny du̯ō(u) 228.]

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