• IPA: /twaɪn/

From Middle English twyn, twyne, twin, from Old English twīn, from Proto-West Germanic *twiʀn, from Proto-Indo-European *dwisnós, from *dwóh₁ ("two").

twine

1. A twist; a convolution.
   • 1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC ↗, page 11 ↗:

     Not Typhon huge ending in ſnaky twine:

2. A strong thread composed of two or three smaller threads or strands twisted together, and used for various purposes, as for binding small parcels, making nets, and the like; a small cord or string.
3. The act of twining or winding round.
   • 1708, [John Philips], “Book I”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗, page 16 ↗:

     The Colewort's rankness, but with amorous twine / Clasps the tall Elm

4. Intimate and suggestive dance gyrations.
   • 1965, Wilson Pickett, Don't Fight It (blues song), BMI Music.

     The way you jerk, the way you do the twine / You're too much, baby; I'd like to make you mine [...]

• French: torsion, convolution
• German: Windung, Verschlingung, Drehung, Ranke, Wicklung
• Russian: сплете́ние
• Spanish: circunvolución, torsión

• French: ficelle
• German: Kordel, Zwirn, Schnur
• Italian: spago
• Portuguese: cordel, barbante
• Russian: бечёвка
• Spanish: cordel, cuerda, guita

• German: Winden, Verdrehen, Zwirnen, Verschlingen, Verwinden, Wickeln, Verzwirnen
• Russian: сплете́ние
• Spanish: entrelazar

From Middle English twinen, twynen, from Old English *twīnian, from Proto-Germanic *twiznōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dwisnós, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

twine (twines, present participle twining; simple past and past participle twined)

1. (transitive) To weave together.
2. (transitive) To wind, as one thread around another, or as any flexible substance around another body.
   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene v]:

     Let me twine
     Mine arms about that body […]

   • 1931, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 10, in The Glass Key‎, New York: Vintage, published 1972, page 199:

     She was twining her fingers together.

3. (transitive) To wind about; to embrace; to entwine.
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     1712 May, [Alexander Pope], “The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-comical Poem.”, in Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC ↗, canto III:

     “Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine,”
     The victor cried, “the glorious prize is mine! […] ”

4. (intransitive) To mutually twist together; to become mutually involved; to intertwine.
   • 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 1, in Klee Wyck‎:

     Usually some old crone was squatted on the earth floor, weaving cedar fibre or tatters of old cloth into a mat, her claw-like fingers twining in and out, in and out, among the strands that were fastened to a crude frame of sticks.

5. (intransitive) To wind; to bend; to make turns; to meander.
   • 1713, Jonathan Swift, Cadenus and Vanessa‎:

     As rivers, though they bend and twine,
     Still to the sea their course incline:

6. (intransitive) To ascend in spiral lines about a support; to climb spirally.

   Many plants twine.

7. (obsolete) To turn round; to revolve.
   • 1598, George Chapman, Hero and Leander:

     dancers twine midst cedar-fragrant glades

8. (obsolete) To change the direction of.
   • 1600, Torquato Tasso, translated by Edward Fairfax, Jerusalem Delivered‎, published 1581, Book 20, Stanza 38:

     For where he turned his sword, or twined his steed,
     He slew, or man and beast on earth down laid,

9. (obsolete) To mingle; to mix.
   • 1646, Richard Crashaw, M. Crashaw’s Answer for Hope‎, lines 29–30:

     As lumpes of sugar loose themselues, and twine
     Their subtile essence with the soul of wine.

• German: flechten, binden, winden, zwirnen, verzwirnen
• Russian: ви́ться

twine (twines, present participle twining; simple past and past participle twined)

1. Alternative form of twin

1. Surname.