fraternal twin

Meaning

1. 1nouncountablebiology

   One of two siblings born together from two separate eggs, so that they share only about half their genes, like ordinary brothers and sisters.

   Grammar: Usually plural, since twins come in pairs: they are fraternal twins; she has a fraternal twin.

   Patterns

   • a fraternal twin of someone
   • be fraternal twins

   Maya and her brother are fraternal twins, so they look quite different.

   Doctors explained that fraternal twins develop from two eggs fertilized at the same time.

   As a fraternal twin, he never felt he had to match his sister's interests.

Word forms

Common combinations

be fraternal twins

The two girls are fraternal twins, but one is much taller.

have a fraternal twin

My cousin has a fraternal twin who lives abroad.

a pair of fraternal twins

A pair of fraternal twins joined our class this term.

fraternal twin brother

His fraternal twin brother is a doctor.

fraternal twin sister

She shares her birthday with her fraternal twin sister.

Synonyms and how they differ

dizygotic twin

This is the scientific term for the same thing and sounds technical, while fraternal twin is what people say in ordinary speech.

non-identical twin

This describes the same relationship by what it is not, and is common in everyday and medical writing.

Opposites

Word family

fraternal adjective

relating to brothers or to a brotherly bond

fraternity noun

a group with a close shared bond

twin noun

one of two children born at the same birth

twinship noun

the state of being a twin

Commonly confused: fraternal twin or identical twin?

Practice

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