Etymology and origin of the English word tween
Pronunciation
- /twiːn/[1]
tween1 between
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Clipping
- First attested
- c. 1330 Guy of Warwick, Auchinleck manuscript
- Ultimate origin
- Middle English betwene
Etymology
The word for "between" is inherited from Middle English twene, short from Middle English for betwene, now between.[2][3][4] Hoad and the OED also allow it to be an aphetic form of the older preposition atween.[5][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
Between: about 1330, in the Auchinleck manuscript of Guy of Warwick,[6] about 1300 in Etymonline,[4] and in the 13th century in Merriam-Webster.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
The word has kept the meaning of between and is usually written with an apostrophe before the t to show the dropped syllable.[4][7] From it came tweeny (19th century), a between-maid who helped two other servants,[5] a term Etymonline places in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and which was also used of other people and things in an intermediate position.[4]
Timeline
- c. 1330 – between.[6]
Meanings
Preposition
Word family
- tweeny
tween2 preteen
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Blend
- First attested
- 1946 New York Times advertisement
- Ultimate origins
- Proto-Germanic *bi-Old English tweonumEnglish -teen
Etymology
The word for a child nearing the teens is a blend, from English between + teen.[7][3] The OED instead takes it as short for tween-age, recorded from 1938, which is an alteration of teenage after the preposition tween1,[6] and Etymonline also explains it by the influence of teen.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
A person who is nearly a teenager, or has just become one: 1946, in an advertisement in the New York Times.[6] The Collegiate dates the noun to 1967,[3] and Etymonline to 1988.[4]
Semantic evolution
The word grew out of the language of clothing advertisements: tween-age described a size or age group from 1938 (Etymonline: 1937),[6][4] and tweenager is recorded from 1949, after teenager.[6] The ages it covers vary between sources, from about 9 to 12 in Etymonline[4] to 8 to 12 in the American Heritage Dictionary.[7] Earlier, Etymonline notes, the age group was called subteen (1952), and Tolkien used tweens in The Lord of the Rings for the irresponsible twenties of a hobbit.[4] The Shorter Oxford labels the word colloquial and chiefly North American.[8] In British slang a tweenie was a sophisticated pre-teenager by 1999.[9]
Timeline
- 1946 – a person who is nearly, or has just become, a teenager.[6]
Meanings
Noun
- A child between middle childhood and adolescence, usually from about 8 to 12 years old; a preteen: The store opened a section for tweens.[7][3][6]
Word family
- tweener
- tweenager
Related words
Usage notes
A capitalised Tween, the proprietary name of a group of emulsifiers used in biochemistry, is recorded from 1941 and is of unknown origin.[6][8]
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
Cite this entry
“Tween.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/tween. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.
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