Two offspring born from the same pregnancy; two things that are very similar or closely related.
From Old English 'twinn' meaning double or two-fold, related to 'two'. The word has cognates in most Germanic languages, all referring to paired or doubled things.
Twins occur in about 1 in 250 births globally, but the rate varies dramatically by geography - Nigeria has the highest rate while Japan has among the lowest. The word 'twin' has spawned countless metaphors, from twin cities to twin beds, showing our fascination with paired phenomena.
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