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atwain. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
atwain, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
atwain in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
atwain you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From a- + twain.
Pronunciation
Adverb
atwain (not comparable)
- (archaic) Into two parts.
- Synonyms: apart, asunder, in twain, in two; see also Thesaurus:asunder
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 292, column 1:[S]uch ſmiling rogues as theſe, / Like Rats oft bite the holy cords a twaine, / Which are t' intrince, t' vnlooſe: […]
1842, Alfred Tennyson, “To—”, in Poems. , volume I, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, page 15:Clear-headed friend, whose joyful scorn, / Edged with sharp laughter, cuts atwain / The knots that tangle human creeds, / The wounding cords that bind and strain / The heart until it bleeds, […]
1896, William Morris, chapter 11, in The Well at the World’s End, volume 2, London: Longmans, Green, page 55:[…] a much wider valley into which a great reef of rocks thrust out from the high mountain, so that the northern half of the said vale was nigh cleft atwain by it;
1939, Henry Miller, Tropic of Capricorn, Grove Press, published 1962, page 295:You must believe me that on this street, neither in the houses which line it, nor the cobblestones which pave it, nor the elevated structure which cuts it atwain, neither in any creature that bears a name and lives thereon, neither in any animal, bird or insect passing through it to slaughter or already slaughtered, is there hope of “lubet,” “sublimate” or “abominate.”
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