Friday Etymology Lesson: twin

This word is near and dear to my heart because I am an identical twin.  Twin comes from a Proto Indo European word dwóh, which you’ll recognize from the word duo, as well as many other words in various languages for the numeral two.  Dwóh morphed into dwino, and then twinaz, through a linguistic tendency wherein d and t sounds get swapped for each other.  Twinaz became twynn, twinn, and then twin. 

Here’s a photo of me with my own twin, Abby, who has been my constant companion since before I was even aware of my own consciousness.  For a tiny infinite moment, she and I were one cell, one being, una, nova, singulare tantum.