dvīnis

Latvian

Dvīņi

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dwis (“twice, twofold”) (with an extra sufix *-no, *-nyo), from *dwi- (“two”), whence also divi (“two”) (q.v.). Cognates include Lithuanian dvynỹs, Old High German zwiniling (< *twi-na-), German Zwilling, English twin, Latin bini (“in twos, in pairs”) (< *dwis-no-).^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA: [dvìːnis]

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Noun

dvīnis m, 2nd declension, feminine form: dvīne

(male) twin (a boy born together with another child from one mother)
dvīņu brālis — twin brother (a man with a twin brother or sister)

dvīņu māsa — twin sister (a woman with a twin brother or sister)

dvīņu zvaigzne — twin star (i.e., a double star)

dvīņu klēts — twin barn (i.e., two barns under the same roof)

dvīņi ir līdzīgi pēc ārienes — twins are similar in appearance

Kaspars domāja par saviem dvīņiem — Kaspars thought about his twins (children)

turcietei piedzimuši dvīņi, zēns un meitene — the Turkish woman gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl

Declension

declension of dvīnis

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	dvīnis	dvīņi
accusative (akuzatīvs)	dvīni	dvīņus
genitive (ģenitīvs)	dvīņa	dvīņu
dative (datīvs)	dvīnim	dvīņiem
instrumental (instrumentālis)	dvīni	dvīņiem
locative (lokatīvs)	dvīnī	dvīņos
vocative (vokatīvs)	dvīni	dvīņi

Usage notes

The singular forms exist but are much less frequent in actual usage than the plural forms (e.g., dvīņu brālis, with dvīņu used adjectivally, is more frequent than dvīnis).