entwine

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From en- + twine (verb).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪnˈtwaɪn/
  • (file)
  • (General American) enPR: ĭn-twīnʹ, IPA(key): /ɪnˈtwaɪn/
  • Rhymes: -aɪn
  • Hyphenation: en‧twine

Verb

entwine (third-person singular simple present entwines, present participle entwining, simple past and past participle entwined)

  1. To twist or twine around something (or one another).
    • 1815 September 10 – December 14, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude”, in Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude: And Other Poems, London: [] Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, []; and Carpenter and Son, [] [b]y S. Hamilton, [], published 1816, →OCLC, page 24:
      Twilight, ascending slowly from the east, / Entwin'd in duskier wreaths her braided locks / O'er the fair front and radiant eyes of day; []
    • 2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the profound meets the profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37:
      Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths.
    • 2024 March 6, Dr Joseph Brennan, “England's booking offices of distinction”, in RAIL, number 1004, page 61:
      And with the story of the booking office, we have a fortune deeply entwined with the stations encasing them.

Usage notes

Particularly used in attributive form entwined.

Often used interchangeably with intertwine, with minor usage distinctions. In symmetric sense of two things twining around each other, such as the branches of two trees, narrower intertwine may be preferred, but these are not strictly distinguished. In asymmetric sense of one thing twined in or around another – rather than mutually – such as a vine twined around a tree (but tree not twined around the vine), entwined is preferred.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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