betwixt

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bitwixe, also betwix and betwixte,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English betwēox, also betwēohs, betwyx and betweoh.^[5][4][6] The first part is be- (“by”), a form of by.^[2][7][6] The second is tweox (“for two”),^[2][7] which the OED and the Shorter Oxford connect, the OED with metathesis, to a Germanic adjective meaning "twofold, two each", seen in Old Saxon twisk, Old High German zwiski, Middle High German zwisc and Old Frisian twiska.^[8][5] Wiktionary reconstructs that adjective as Proto-Germanic *twiskaz.^[1][9] The OED calls the whole derivation only apparent,^[8] and Barnhart thinks the preposition is probably a shortening of an unrecorded *betweoxum (“twofold”).^[7] Kroonen leaves open whether the adjective comes from the numeral *twa- (“two”) or from the adverb *twis (“twice”),^[10] and Barnhart chooses the adverb, comparing Latin bis, from Proto-Indo-European *dwis;^[7] Etymonline goes to *dwo- (“two”) with the suffix that became -ish.^[2] Dictionary.com and Klein compare German zwischen,^[11][3] Klein also Dutch tussen,^[3] and Merriam-Webster compares Gothic 𐍄𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌹 (tweihnai, “two each”).^[4] The final -t is unetymological, as in against, amidst and amongst.^[8][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Between, in several of its relations: Barnhart dates the form betweox before 899, in the writings of Alfred.^[7] The OED's earliest quotations include Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care, of difference or likeness between things, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 920, of the distance between two places.^[8] Bosworth–Toller quotes the Old English gospel of Luke for "among": swá swá lamb betweox wulfas, as lambs among wolves.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word's senses have run parallel to those of between from the start: the OED defines most of them by cross-reference, for position, distance, comparison, exchange and things shared by two parties, nearly all from Old English on.^[8] The spelling is what changed:^[7] Barnhart records betwix in 1127 and bytwixte before 1333, and says the final -t, though it had developed in Old English, was infrequent until after 1500, when it gradually became regular.^[7][2] Middle English also had the variant bitwixen^[13][14] and a shorter twix, "among; in the meantime".^[2] Johnson (1755) gave the word the same meaning as between and said the two were used indifferently, quoting Milton, Dryden and Shakespeare.^[15] It has since retreated: the Shorter Oxford calls it poetic, archaic and dialectal,^[5] Collins archaic,^[16] and Etymonline finds it now mostly in the colloquial intensive betwixt and between, "neither the one thing nor the other", which Wright records from Scotland.^[2][17]

Timeline

• before 899 – the form Old English betwēox, in the writings of Alfred, of relations between things.^[7][8]
• 1127 – the form betwix.^[7]
• 13th century – adverb, between.^[4]
• before 1333 – the form bytwixte, with final -t.^[7]
• c. 1500 – the spelling with -t becomes general.^[2][7]
• 1551 – of a quantity or degree, intermediate to two others (obsolete by 1909).^[8]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (archaic) Between: the narrow lane betwixt the two hedges.^[16][4][5]

Adverb

1. (archaic) Between; in an intermediate place.^[4][5]
2. betwixt and between: in a middle or intermediate position, neither one thing nor the other.^[16][17][2]

Word family

• twixt
• betwixt and between

Related words

• between
• two
• twice

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
13. ^ Mayhew, A. L.; Skeat, Walter W. (1888), A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580, Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
17. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)