twice

Etymology

From earlier twise, from Middle English twies, twiȝes, from Old English twīġes (“twice”), from twīwa, twīġa ("twice"; whence Middle English twie (“twice”)) + -es (adverbial genitive ending). Related to Saterland Frisian twäie (“twice”), Middle Low German twiges, twies (“twice”), Middle High German zwies (“twice”). Compare also twi- meaning two or both.

adv

1. Two times.
   I've done with my tirade. The world was gone; / The twice two thousand, for whom earth was made, / Were vanish'd to be what they call alone 1824, Lord Byron, “//dummy.host/index.php?title=s%3Aen%3ADon+Juan+%28Byron%29%2FCanto+the+Thirteenth Canto the Thirteenth”, in Don Juan
   Santa Claus is coming to town / He’s making a list, / And checking it twice, / He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice / Santa Claus is coming to town 1934, J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie (lyrics and music), “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”
2. (usually with "as", of a specified quality) Doubled in quantity, intensity, or degree.
   Thus it appears that if the machine is turning twice as slow as before, there is more than twice the former quantity in the rising buckets; and more will be raised in a minute by the same expenditure of power. 1826, John Nicholson, The Operative Mechanic, and British Machinist: Being a Practical Display of the Manufactories and Mechanical Arts of the United Kingdom, volume 1, H.C. Carey & I. Lea, page 78
   You can't get anything thinner than a spring shad, unless you take a couple of them, when, of course, they will be twice as thin. 1896, Livingston Stone, Domesticated Trout: How to Breed and Grow Them, 4th edition, page 304
   MARY: As you go from left to right, each example has twice as many twos; from right to left, twice as few. 1952, Peter Lincoln Spencer, Building mathematical concepts in the elementary school, page 139
   Both men and women with higher qualifications were twice as less likely to be unemployed than their less qualified counterparts. 1995, Louise Corti, Heather Laurie, Shirley Dex, Highly Qualified Women, Great Britain. Dept. of Employment, page 18