tvennur

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛnːʏr

Etymology 1

From Old Norse tvinnr, from Proto-Germanic *twinaz.

Adjective

tvennur (not comparable)

1. two
   • Genesis 6 (Icelandic, English)

     Af öllum lifandi skepnum, af öllu holdi, skalt þú láta inn í örkina tvennt af hverju, svo að það haldi lífi með þér. Karldýr og kvendýr skulu þau vera: Af fuglunum eftir þeirra tegund, af fénaðinum eftir hans tegund og af öllum skriðkvikindum jarðarinnar eftir þeirra tegund. Tvennt af öllu skal til þín inn ganga, til þess að það haldi lífi.

     You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."

   Tvennir tónleikar.

   Two concerts.

   Þetta má gera á tvennan hátt.

   This can be done in two different ways.

   Ég vil tvennt af öllu.

   I want two of every kind.

2. (in the plural) two pairs

   Tvennir skór.

   Two pairs of shoes.

   Tvennir sokkar.

   Two pairs of socks.

Usage notes

• Used when counting singular nouns, pluralia tantum or groupings (especially pairs) of items, or when the item counted is missing from the sentence or separated by the preposition af (“of”).

Declension

strong declension (indefinite)	singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	tvennur	tvenn	tvennt
	accusative	tvennan	tvenna
	dative	tvennum	tvennri	tvennu
	genitive	tvenns	tvennrar	tvenns
	plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	tvennir	tvennar	tvenn
	accusative	tvenna
	dative	tvennum
	genitive	tvennra
weak declension (definite)	singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	tvenni	tvenna	tvenna
	acc/dat/gen	tvenna	tvennu
	plural (all-case)	tvennu

positive forms of tvennur

Derived terms

• í tvennu lagi (“in two parts”)
• skipta í tvennt (“to divide into two”)
• tvenna
• tvennd
• tvenning
• tvenns konar (“of two different kinds, two different kinds”)

  Með tvenns konar menningu.

  Bicultural.

Related terms

• fern
• tveir
• tvé-, tve-, tvæ-
• þrennur

Etymology 2

Noun

tvennur f

1. indefinite nominative plural of tvenna
2. indefinite accusative plural of tvenna

References

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)