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

Because so much of Janelle and Lisa’s work is about pattern recognition, visual twinning and parallels in objects and language, stretching the experience across two buildings naturally builds in space to process these various connections. —Michael James Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Sep. 2025

Digital twinning and the like will save countless lives, transform our world and enhance our quality of life in so many ways. —John Werner, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025

This twinning process increases ductility, allowing the material to stretch in more directions, but excessive twinning can create clusters of defects that eventually cause cracks. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 7 Aug. 2025

Despite the commotion their accidental twinning caused online, Roach — who was filmed cooly reacting to seeing Sawai on the carpet — confirms that the vibes are all good not only between the two stars, but also between himself and Sawai's stylist. —Michelle Lee, People.com, 14 May 2025

As more companies look for ways to scale leadership without long-term commitments, fractional leadership—or fractional twinning—is likely to expand across multiple industries. —Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2025

Tapestry is working with Adobe to gain ground on a fast-emerging trend in design and product development — digital twinning. —David Moin, WWD, 15 Jan. 2025

On one hand, Cordero’s twinning of mountaineering and filmmaking reveals spiritual similarities to both endeavors. —Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 25 Dec. 2024

Longtime pals Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are both sporting beards, and apparently there's a special reason for the unexpected twinning. —Lauren Huff, EW.com, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1573, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for twinning

• binning
• dinning
• ginning
• grinning
• inning
• pinning
• sinning
• skinning
• spinning
• thinning
• tinning
• winning

Medical Definition

twinning

noun

twin·​ning ˈtwin-iŋ 

: the bearing of twins