twinning

noun

twin·​ning ˈtwi-niŋ 

1

: the act of producing or giving birth to twins

Rates of fraternal twinning vary from population to population, and the tendency to produce fraternal twins is genetically transmitted through the mother's line.

—Jane E. Brody

The frequency of twinning among women who have already borne twins, the 'repeat frequency,' is significantly higher than in the general population.

—P. Parisi et al.

2

: the coupling, association, or comparison of two similar people, groups, or things

It also encourages twinning between rich and poor parishes.

—Thomas J. Reese

The rhapsodizing literature and the inherent twinning of Disney's theme parks and its new town drew people with unrealistic dreams.

—Douglas Frantz et al.

3

: the assemblage of two or more crystals or parts of crystals such that they form a twin (see twin entry 1 sense 3)

One of them, a spiral defect, typically occurs when atoms crystallize from a high-temperature vapor. In the other defect, known as twinning, atomic lattices that are mirror images of each other join at a common boundary.

—R. Cowen

The two-time Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, for example, championed an arrangement of ordinary crystals called twinning. Twinned crystals grow from separate origins and penetrate each other at odd angles, such as 72 degrees. This might produce a diffraction pattern with spurious fivefold symmetry, even though the underlying structure was conventional.

—Hans C. Von Baeyer

Examples of twinning in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But since monozygotic twinning seems to happen randomly, mothers of identical twins would presumably dilute the effect seen here. —Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 15 Aug. 2011

According to the Poosh founder, the spooky twinning was entirely an accident — neither sister told the other about their costume plans. —Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 1 Oct. 2023

Immediately after the latter arrived, the internet was quick to notice and meme about the two twinning. —Zizi Strater, Peoplemag, 3 May 2023

And more than 42% of executives across a broad spectrum of industry verticals understand the benefits of digital twinning, with 59% planning to incorporate the technology within their operations by 2028. —Jennifer Kite-Powell, Forbes, 16 May 2022

Regal twinning at coronation catches eyes Princess Catherine of Wales and her daughter, Princess Charlotte, made a statement in matching silver headpieces. —Alexandra Meeks, CNN, 8 May 2023

The pair also stepped out for Halloween weekend with a creepy twinning look to cap off festivities, going as the ghostly twins from Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film The Shining. —Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 5 Nov. 2022

Scroll to see Warwick and Taylor twinning. —Brooklyn White, Essence, 23 Dec. 2020

That twinning adds to the play’s air of sad mystery. —Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1573, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

twinning

noun

twin·​ning ˈtwin-iŋ 

: the bearing of twins