zwei

• zwëi

From Middle High German zwei, from Old High German zwei (neuter of zwēne).

Cognate with German zwei, Dutch twee, English two, Icelandic tveir.

zwei

1. two

• zwien (archaic masculine form)
• zwo, zwu (archaic feminine form)

From Middle High German zwei, from Old High German zwei (neuter of zwēne).

• IPA^(key): /tsʋɛi̯/

zwei

1. (most dialects) two

• Hunsrik: zweu

• zwey, zway (obsolete)

From Middle High German zwei, from Old High German zwei (neuter of zwēne).

Compare Dutch twee, English two, twain. In Old High German, and still today in some dialects, distinct forms are used for the three grammatical genders. Zwei was originally the neuter form, now used for all genders. The Old High German masculine zwēne is found back in early modern German zween; the feminine zwō lives on in the variant zwo (but now without any gender distinction).

• IPA^(key): /t͡svaɪ̯/, [t͡sʋaɪ̯]

• Audio

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• IPA^(key): (regionally) /t͡svo/
• Rhymes: -aɪ̯

zwei

1. (cardinal number) two (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 2; or describing a set with two components)

   Synonym: zwo

• In adjectival use (that is, with a following noun):
  • Nominative and accusative are always uninflected.
  • The genitive case takes the form zweier if no article or pronoun is preceding: Vater zweier Kinder – “a father of two children”; but: der Vater der zwei Kinder – “the father of the two children”. The form zweier is somewhat elevated; even in formal writing it is sometimes more natural to avoid it (Vater von zwei Kindern).
• In substantival use (that is, without a following noun):
  • Nominative and accusative are uninflected in the contemporary standard language. The form zweie still exists in colloquial German, chiefly in eastern Germany.
  • The genitive is often expressed using beide, for example einer der beiden ist... (“one of the two is...”). The equivalent form einer der zwei ist... is rare.
  • The dative case may take the form zweien: Ich sprach mit zweien. – “I spoke with two (people).” This rule is usually observed in formal standard German; but when a specification in the genitive case (or with von) is following, the bare form is more common: Ich sprach mit zwei der Zeugen. – “I spoke with two of the witnesses.” In colloquial German, zweien is never obligatory.

• Zweiklang
• Zweiweg- (Gleichrichter)

• zwanzig
• zwölf

• (Silesian) ees, zwee, drei, vier, fimf, sechs, siem, acht, neun, zahn, elf, zwelf

• “zwei” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “zwei” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “zwei” in Duden online
• zwei on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de