"T" Word Origins

twerp

Welsh · 1910

Origin uncertain — British slang from the 1910s; various theories link it to a person's name, a bird-call word, or Welsh twp ("fool"), but none is confirmed.

twice

Old English

From Old English twīwa ("two times") with an old adverbial ending, related to the prefix twi- meaning "two."

twiddle

Origin

Origin unclear; possibly a blend of twirl, twist, and fiddle.

twig

Old English

From Old English twigge, related to German Zweig ("branch"), ultimately going back to the same ancient root as the number "two," since a twig branches off in a fork.

twiggy

Origin

From twig plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

twilight

Middle English

From Middle English, combining twi- ("two, half") with light — literally "half-light," referring to the dim glow between day and night.

twilightish

Origin

From twilight + -ish.

twill

Origin

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twyll, twylle, from Old English twilīċ (“two-threaded”), a partial calque of Latin bilix, bilic-, from bis (“twice”) + licium (“thread”).

twin

Old English

From Old English twinn ("double, two-fold"), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "two each," ultimately from the ancient word for "two."

twine

Old English

From Old English twīn ("double thread"), related to the ancient root for "two," since twine is made of threads twisted together.

twinge

Old English

From Old English twenġan ("to pinch, squeeze"), an old Germanic verb related to the idea of a sharp pinching sensation.

twink

Old English

From Old English twincian ("to wink, twinkle"); the gay-slang sense developed much later as a separate usage.

twinkie

Origin

The brand name is said to be a diminutive, twinkle + -ie (or otherwise modified), based on a billboard for "Twinkle Toe Shoes" in St. Louis, although there are also claims for solely one or the other. The meaning in reference to well-assimilated Asians is derived from the slur that they are "yellow on the outside, white on the inside".

twinkle

Old English

From Old English twinclian ("to twinkle"), built from an older word for winking or blinking plus a suffix suggesting repeated small movements.

twinkling

Middle English

From Middle English twynkelynge, equivalent to twinkle + -ing.

twinning

Origin

From twin + -ing.

twinsome

Origin

From twin + -some.

twirl

Germanic

Likely of Scandinavian origin, related to old Germanic words for stirring or whirling; possibly also influenced by "whirl."

twirp

Origin

Onomatopoeia, like chirp.

twist

Old English

From Old English twist, related to an old Germanic root for "two," describing something formed by winding two strands together.

twisted

Origin · 1800

From the verb twist; the literal "bent out of shape" sense came first, and the "mentally disturbed" sense developed by the early 1800s.

twister

Origin

From twist plus the suffix -er, originally meaning "one who twists," later applied to a spinning storm and a spinning ball.

twisty

Origin

From twist plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

twit

Old English

From an older word atwite meaning "to blame or reproach," which goes back to Old English ætwītan.

twitch

Old English

From Old English twiċċan, related to "tweak," originally meaning to pinch or pluck sharply.

twitchel

Origin

Inherited from Middle English twichel, alteration of twychen (with change of suffix), from Old English twiċen (“fork in the road”).

twitchy

Origin

From twitch plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

twitten

Origin

Corruption of betwixt and between. Alternatively: derived from Low German "twiete" (alley)

twitter

Old English

From Old English twiterian, an old word imitating the chirping sound of birds; the social-media platform borrowed the word directly for its name.

Twix

Origin

A brand name blending "twin" and "sticks," referring to the two biscuit fingers in each pack.

twixt

Middle English

A worn-down form of Middle English twyx, with a small added -t sound, related to "between."

two

Latin

From Old English twā, going back through Germanic to the ancient Indo-European root for "two," shared with words like Latin duo and Greek dúo — it is a very old, widely inherited number word.

twofold

Origin

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twofold, from Old English twēofeald. Equivalent to two + -fold; cognate to Icelandic tvöfalt and Dutch tweevoudig.

twosome

Middle English

Formed in Middle English from "two" plus the old suffix "-some," which is also seen in words like "foursome" and "handsome."

Twyla

Origin

A 20th-century American coinage, derived from twilight.

Ty

Origin

Clipping of Tyrone, Tyler, Tyson, Tyron, and other male given names beginning with "Ty".

Tybalt

Origin

Unknown, perhaps a variant of Theobald.

tycoon

Japanese · 1800

Borrowed from a Japanese title meaning "great lord," once used for the shogun; English speakers adopted it during the 1800s for powerful business figures.

tye

Old French

From a Middle English word for a chest or box, itself blending an Old English and an Old French term with the same meaning.

tying

Old English

The -ing form of "tie," tracing back to an Old English word meaning "to connect."

tyke

Old Norse

From an Old Norse word for a female dog, later broadening in English to mean a mongrel and then, affectionately, a small child.

Tylenol

Origin

A shortened, trademarked form of the chemical name para-acetylaminophenol.

Tyler

Middle English

From the Middle English occupational surname for a tiler, someone who laid roof or floor tiles.

tympanum

Origin

Borrowed from Latin tympanum (“a drum, timbrel, tambourine; the eardrum”). Doublet of timbre, timpani, timbal, and tymbal.

Tyne

Old English

From an Old English river name, possibly from an ancient Celtic word meaning "river."

type

Latin

From Latin typus, itself from Greek túpos meaning "mark" or "impression," related to a verb meaning "to strike."

typecasting

Origin

By surface analysis, typecast + -ing.

typeface

Origin

From type + face.