two

num, noun — 8 senses

two

num

CA, UK /tu/ · US /tu/

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English two, twa, from Old English twā, feminine and neuter of twēġen (whence twain), from Proto-West Germanic *twai-, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁. Cognates Cognate with Scots twa (“two”); North Frisian tou, tuu (“two”); Saterland Frisian twäin, two (“two”); West Frisian twa (“two”); Dutch twee (“two”); Low German twee, twei (“two”); German zwei, zwo (“two”); Danish and Norwegian to (“two”); Swedish två, tu (“two”); Icelandic tvö (“two”); Faroese tvey (“two”); Latin duō (“two”); Ancient Greek δύο (dúo, “two”); Irish dhá (“two”); Lithuanian dù (“two”); Russian два (dva, “two”); Albanian dy (“two”); Old Armenian երկու (erku, “two”); Sanskrit द्व (dvá, “two”); Tocharian A wu, Tocharian B wi. Doublet of duo. See also twain. Unrelated to resembling words in Austronesian languages, including Malagasy roa; Cebuano and Tagalog dalawa; West Coast Bajau and Minangkabau duo; Buginese ᨉᨘᨓ (dua); Indonesian, Iban, Iranun, Ilocano, Sundanese, and Malay dua; West Coast Bajau and Minangkabau duo; Fijian, Māori, Rapa Nui, and Rotuman rua; Niuean and Tongan ua; Hawaiian, Samoan, and Wallisian lua; South Marquesan 'ua. All of which originated from Proto-Austronesian *duSa.

1

A numerical value equal to 2; this many dots (••).

  • Venters began to count them—one—two—three—four—on up to sixteen.1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 8, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:
2

Describing a set or group with two elements.

  • “[…]The two murders might have been done by one of the ryots who was dissatisfied over his assessment and thought he had a grievance. […].”1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 5, in Pulling the Strings:
  • The surveillance program includes at least 480 LPRs that scan and record about 16.2 million vehicles per week and stores that data for two years, he wrote in the court filing.2023 July 24, Chris Eberhart, “NY police used AI to track drivers on highways as attorney questions legality”, in Fox News, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2023:
Derived terms
381 termsa bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, all-in-two, all-in-two diaper, all-in-two nappy, a thing or two, at ten and two, Aztec two-step, baddy two shoes, beast with two backs, bent as a two bob, better one word in time than two afterwards, between two stools, betwixen, big two, blues and twos, Boettger's two-headed snake, caught between two stools, couldn't organise a two-ticket raffle, cross as two sticks, difference of two squares, do number two, easy as one two three, eat for two, every stick has two ends, fall between two stools, feed two birds with one scone, fifteen and two, for two pins, four-by-two, four by two, game of two halves, give two fucks, give two hoots, give two shits, give two squirts, give two squirts of piss, goodie two-shoes, goodie two shoes, goody two shoes, goody-two-shoes, goody two-shoes, grade two, greater of two evils, have two strings to one's bow, hippo birdie two ewe, hit two birds with one shot, hit two targets with one arrow, hotter than a two dollar pistol, in two, in two jumps, in two minds, in two shakes, in two shakes of a cow's tail, in two shakes of a dog's tail, in two shakes of a duck's tail, in two shakes of a lamb's tail, in two shakes of a rabbit's ass, it takes two to make a quarrel, it takes two to quarrel, it takes two to tangle, it takes two to tango, kill two birds with one shot, kill two birds with one stone, kinder two, layer two tunnelling protocol, lesser of two evils, like a dog with two dicks, like a dog with two tails, like as two peas, like two peas in a pod, Linnaeus's two-toed sloth, meat and two veg, no two ways about it, number two, of two minds, one can't carry two watermelons under one arm, one can't hold two watermelons in one hand, one hand can't hold two watermelons, one or two, ones and twos, one-two, one-two punch, one-two-three, on twos, play number two, put two and two together, put two and two together and come up with five, put two and two together and make five, put two fingers up, quasi-two-dimensional, quasi-two-dimensionality, rose between two thorns, rule of two, serve two masters, show someone a thing or two, six and two threes, stand on one's own two feet, stick two fingers up, stop two gaps with one bush, Texas two-step, that ever walked on two legs, there are two ends to every stick, there are two sides to every question, there are two sides to every story, thick as two short planks, three-center two-electron bond, toonie, trip over one's own two feet, turn two, twenty two, twenty-two hundred, two Abe Lincolns, two-a-day, two Americas, two and eight, two and ten, two a penny, two-armed, two-bagger, two bald men fighting over a comb, two-barred crossbill, two-barred warbler, two birds/one stone, two birds with one stone, two birds—one stone, two-bit, two bits, two-block, two-blocked, two-block haircut, two bob, two bob each way, two-body problem, Two Borders, two brain cells to rub together, two-by-four, two by four, two by two, two can play at that game, two can play at this game, two can play that game, two can play this game, two cents, two cents' worth, two cheeks of the same arse, two child problem, two children problem, two commas, two-cycle, two-cylinder, two days after tomorrow, two-decker, two-dimensional, two-dimensionally, two-dish rice, two-dollar shop, two-dollar word, two-double, two-edged, two-edged sword, two envelopes problem, twoer, two-eyed, two-eyed jack, two-eyed steak, two-faced, two-facedly, two-facedness, two-factor authentication, two-fanged, two fat ladies, twofie, two-fifths, two fifths, two-fingered typing, two-finger salute, two fingerslong, two fingers up, Twofish, two-fisted, two-fisted drinker, two-fold, two-footed, two for flinching, two-form, two for the price of one, two for two, two-forty, two-forty on a plank road, two-four, two-four time, Two Gates, two-handed, two-handed game, two-handedly, two-handedness, two-hander, two-hand sword, two-hand touch, two ha'pennies for a penny, Two Harbors, two-headed, two heads are better than one, two-heart, two-hit wonder, two-hole punch, two-hourly, two hundred, two hundred fifty-sixth note, two-hundredth, twoish, two L, two-L, two lamps burning and no ship at sea, two-leaf, two left feet, two left hands, two-legged, two-legged eel, two-legged mare, two-legged tie, two-level, two-line, two-line brevier, two-lined chestnut borer, two-line double pica, two-line English, two-line great primer, two-line pass, two-line pica, two-line whip, twoling, two-lipped, two little ducks, two-man advantage, two-man saw, two men and a dog, Two Mile Flat, two-minute hate, two-minute noodle, two-minute silence, two-minute warning, twonager, two-name paper, twoness, two-norm, two o'clock, two-of, two of a kind, two-of-a-kind, two pair, two pairs, twopartite, two-part time, two-party, two-partyism, two-party system, twopence, two pennies, two pennies to rub together, two pennies' worth, two pennorth, two penn'orth, twopenny, two-percenter, two percenter, two-percent milk, two-person rule, two pesos, two-phase, two-phase commit, two-piece, two-piece sleeve, two pips, two-pizza rule, two plus two equals five, two-ply, two-point conversion, two-point perspective, two points, two-port network, two pot screamer, two-price advertising, two-pronged, twoprov, two-ranked, two-reeler, twoscore, Twosday, two-seamer, two-seam fastball, two-seater, two-second rule, two second rule, two seconds to black, two set, two-shot, two shot, two-sided, two-sided ideal, two-sidedness, two sides of the same coin, twosies, two slips of latinum, two solitudes, two-speed, two-speed crossword, two-speed Europe, two spirit, two-spirit, two-spirited, two-spotted scoliid wasp, two-spotted spider mite, two-start, two-state solution, two-step, two steps ahead, two-striped grasshopper, two-stroke, two-stroke engine, two swords, two-table, two-tailed pasha, two-tap, two tears in a bucket, twoth, two-third, twothirds, two thirds, two-thirds, two thousand, two thousand and late, two-thousander, two thousands, two-thousandsies, two-thousandth, two-throw, two thumbs up, two-tier, two-tiered, two-tier Keir, two-time, two-time loser, two-timer, two times, two-timing, twotino, two-toed sloth, two-tone, two-tongued, two-to-one, two-top, two touch, two twos, two up, two upon ten, two-up-two-down, Two Waters, two-way, two-way communication, two-way joist slab, two-way mirror, two-way street, two-way switch, two-way traveltime, twoweapon, two week millionaire, two-week wait, two-wheel drive, two-wheeled, two-wheeler, two-wheel tractor, two wrongs don't make a right, two wrongs make a right, two years ago, watch in two, wear two hats, when two Fridays come together, when two Sundays come together, when two Sundays meet, World War II
Related terms
Table of cardinal numbers 0 to 9 in various languages

two

noun
Etymology

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English two, twa, from Old English twā, feminine and neuter of twēġen (whence twain), from Proto-West Germanic *twai-, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁. Cognates Cognate with Scots twa (“two”); North Frisian tou, tuu (“two”); Saterland Frisian twäin, two (“two”); West Frisian twa (“two”); Dutch twee (“two”); Low German twee, twei (“two”); German zwei, zwo (“two”); Danish and Norwegian to (“two”); Swedish två, tu (“two”); Icelandic tvö (“two”); Faroese tvey (“two”); Latin duō (“two”); Ancient Greek δύο (dúo, “two”); Irish dhá (“two”); Lithuanian dù (“two”); Russian два (dva, “two”); Albanian dy (“two”); Old Armenian երկու (erku, “two”); Sanskrit द्व (dvá, “two”); Tocharian A wu, Tocharian B wi. Doublet of duo. See also twain. Unrelated to resembling words in Austronesian languages, including Malagasy roa; Cebuano and Tagalog dalawa; West Coast Bajau and Minangkabau duo; Buginese ᨉᨘᨓ (dua); Indonesian, Iban, Iranun, Ilocano, Sundanese, and Malay dua; West Coast Bajau and Minangkabau duo; Fijian, Māori, Rapa Nui, and Rotuman rua; Niuean and Tongan ua; Hawaiian, Samoan, and Wallisian lua; South Marquesan 'ua. All of which originated from Proto-Austronesian *duSa.

1

The digit/figure 2.

  • The number 2202 contains three twos.
  • In our example, 1210 has 1 zero, 2 ones, 1 two and 0 threes. […] The number has 2 twos.2008 March 2, Tanya Khovanova, “Autobiographical Numbers”, in arXiv, pages 1, 2:
2

US, Informal A two-dollar bill.

3

A child aged two.

  • This toy is suitable for the twos and threes.
4

A playing card featuring two pips.

5

Two o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.

  • It was a weary time. A carriage clock had been placed on the discoloured wooden mantelpiece, and slowly its hands crept on from one to two and from two to three.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “In which Three Investigators Come across a Dark Soul”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
6

Broadcasting, Film, Media, Television Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of two shot.

Derived terms
two-up, two's complement
Related terms
2, 2nd, both, couple, double, dual, pair, second, twain, twi-, twice, twin, two-

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.