twee
English
Etymology
From a childish pronunciation of sweet. The Oxford English Dictionary records the first use in 1905 in Punch.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /twiː/
- Rhymes: -iː
Audio (UK) (file)
Adjective
twee (comparative more twee or tweer, superlative most twee or tweest)
- (Britain, derogatory) Overly quaint, dainty, cute or nice.
- Those Beatrix Potter animals are a little twee for my taste.
- 1999, Janet Foster, Docklands: Urban Change and Conflict in a Community in Transition, London; Philadelphia, Pa.: UCL Press, →ISBN, page 82:
- Despite the fact that the designs were all a bit twee […] they stood out a mile in the market place at that time.
- 2001, Alan Murphy, Scotland Highlands & Islands Handbook: The Travel Guide, Bath, Somerset: Footprint Handbooks, →ISBN, page 11:
- Forget the clichéd image of Brigadoon and shortbread tins, the dreadfully twee tartan tat and Celtic kitsch that, sadly, still exists in the 21st century, and is too often passed off as a genuine Highland experience.
- 2002, Peter Ellison, Essential Non-fiction, Dublin: Folens Publishers, →ISBN, page 40:
- As always with Disney, there are moments when it all seems a bit twee, others when it is excessively PC.
- 2005 September 8, Stephen S. Hall, quoting Richard Dawkins, “Darwin's Rottweiler: Sir Richard Dawkins: Evolution's fiercest champion, far too fierce”, in Discover, archived from the original on 1 January 2016:
- I just wouldn’t have felt comfortable saying, "I am a duckbilled platypus, and this is how I find my shrimps." I think it would have been twee.
- 2015 June 2, Kenneth Partridge, “With ‘West End Girls,’ Pet Shop Boys set a high standard for U.K. hip-hop”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 6 September 2015:
- [Neil] Tennant's accent obviously has a lot to do with that, but the fact he's rapping is further masked by his twee, effeminate delivery.
Synonyms
- cutesy (US)
- precious
- saccharine
- syrupy
Related terms
- twee pop
Translations
|
Anagrams
- ewte, weet
Afrikaans
< 1 | 2 | 3 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : twee Ordinal : tweede | ||
Alternative forms
- twé (obsolete)
Etymology
From Dutch twee, from Middle Dutch twee, twe, from Old Dutch twē, neuter form of twēne, from Proto-West Germanic *twai-, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tvɪə̯/, /tveə/
Audio (file)
Numeral
twee
- two
Anagrams
- weet
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tʋeː/
audio (Belgium) (file) audio (Netherlands) (file) - Hyphenation: twee
- Rhymes: -eː
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch twêe, from Old Dutch twē, neuter form of twēne, from Proto-West Germanic *twai-, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁i.
Numeral
20 | ||
← 1 | 2 | 3 → |
---|---|---|
Cardinal: twee Ordinal: tweede |
twee
- two
Derived terms
- tweebaans
- tweehonderd
- tweetal
- tweetalig
- tweetallig
- tweebenig
- tweelandensim
Descendants
- Afrikaans: twee
- Berbice Creole Dutch: twe
- Jersey Dutch: tweî, twî
- Negerhollands: twee, twe
- Skepi Creole Dutch: twe
- → Trió: tuwei_me
Noun
twee f (plural tweeën, diminutive tweetje n)
- two
Anagrams
- weet
- wete
Low German
< 1 | 2 | 3 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : twee Ordinal : tweet | ||
Alternative forms
- twei (Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch)
Etymology
From Middle Low German twê, from Old Saxon twene (“two”).
Numeral
twee
- two
Coordinate terms
—0 | —1 | —2 | —3 | —4 | —5 | —6 | —7 | —8 | —9 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0— | null | een | twee/twei | dree/drei | veer | fiev/fief | söß/söss | sæben/söven | acht | negen |
1— | teihn/tein/tien | ölven/elf | twölf | dörteihn | veerteihn | föffteihn | sössteihn | söventeihn | achtteihn | negenteihn |
2— | twintig | eenuntwintig | tweeuntwintig | dreeuntwintig | veeruntwintig | fiefuntwintig | sössuntwintig | sövenuntwintig | achtuntwintig | negenuntwintig |
3— | dörtig | eenundörtig | tweeundörtig | dreeundörtig | veerundörtig | fiefundörtig | sössundörtig | sövenundörtig | achtundörtig | negenundörtig |
4— | veertig | eenunveertig | tweeunveertig | dreeunveertig | veerunveertig | fiefunveertig | sössunveertig | sövenunveertig | achtunveertig | negenunveertig |
5— | föfftig | eenunföfftig | tweeunföfftig | dreeunföfftig | veerunföfftig | fiefunföfftig | sössunföfftig | sövenunföfftig | achtunföfftig | negenunföfftig |
6— | sösstig | eenunsösstig | tweeunsösstig | dreeunsösstig | veerunsösstig | fiefunsösstig | sössunsösstig | sövenunsösstig | achtunsösstig | negenunsösstig |
7— | söventig | eenunsöventig | tweeunsöventig | dreeunsöventig | veerunsöventig | fiefunsöventig | sössunsöventig | sövenunsöventig | achtunsöventig | negenunsöventig |
8— | achtig tachentig | eenunachtig eenuntachentig | tweeunachtig tweeuntachentig | dreeunachtig dreeuntachentig | veerunachtig veeruntachentig | fiefunachtig fiefuntachentig | sössunachtig sössuntachentig | sövenunachtig sövenuntachentig | achtunachtig achtuntachentig | negenunachtig negenuntachentig |
9— | negentig | eenunnegentig | tweeunnegentig | dreeunnegentig | veerunnegentig | fiefunnegentig | sössunnegentig | sövenunnegentig | achtunnegentig | negenunnegentig |
- 100: hunnert
- 103: dusend, duusend, eendusend
- 104: teihndusend
- 106: Milljon
- 1012: Billjon
- 1015: Billjard
…
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch twē, neuter form of twēne, from Proto-West Germanic *twai-.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tweː/
Numeral
twêe
- two
Descendants
- Dutch: twee
- Limburgish: twei, twieë
- Zealandic: tweê
Further reading
- “twee”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “twee”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN
Plautdietsch
Etymology
From Middle Low German twê, from Old Saxon twene (“two”).
Numeral
twee
- two, twain
Yola
Numeral
twee
- Alternative form of twye
References
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 73