Etymologically
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twice

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /twaɪs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English twies,[2][3] from late inherited from Old English twiges, a variant of twiga (“two times”), twigea,[2][3] with the adverbial genitive ending -es.[3][2] It goes back to Proto-Germanic *twiyes, the source also of Old Frisian twia and Old Saxon twio,[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *dwis-, an adverbial form of Proto-Indo-European *dwo- (“two”).[2] The final -s was voiceless, and so came to be spelled -ce, as in ice and once.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Two times, on two occasions: Old English twiga, before 899;[3] the form with -s is in the OED from about 1122.[5]

Semantic evolution

“Two times as much”, “doubly”, is from 1308.[5] Once or twice and twice or thrice for “a few times” are from before 1225.[5] To think twice is from 1623, when “think twice, then speak” was already called an old proverb.[5][2] Twice-told meant “counted twice” in Lydgate in the early 15th century;[2] “told twice” is from Shakespeare's King John (1595).[2] Twice replaced the phrase two times in nearly all its uses.[5]

Timeline

  • before 899 – Old English twiga.[3]
  • c. 1122 – twies, two times.[5]
  • before 1225 – once or twice.[5]
  • 1308 – two times as much.[5]
  • 1595 – twice-told, told twice.[2]
  • 1623 – think twice.[5][2]

Modern meaning

Adverb

  1. On two occasions; two times.
  2. Twice as much; in double degree: twice as large.

Word family

  • twicer
  • twice-laid
  • twice-told

Usage notes

Nearly every use of two times can take twice instead.[5]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  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 e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press