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fraternal twin

fraternal twin

4 3.1
One of two children born at the same time from different eggs who may look different and be different sexes
  • noun
  • /frəˈtɜrnəl twɪn/
translation icon : gemelo fraternal
  • And as you know, fraternal twins share half of their DNA, identical twins share all of their DNA.
  • fraternal twin pairs

And, you know, I have two six year old boys now, fraternal twins.

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Examples

  • Moreover, genetic contributions can be inferred to the extent that twin difference associations are greater for fraternal twins than for identical twins.

    Blog text (7)
  • Ben and his fraternal twin brother,

    Blog text (21)
  • Shows the development of the smile and the fear of strangers during the first year of life in identical and fraternal twins.

    Blog text (33)
  • You know, I'll tell you the people who I find the most intelligent about this are the parents of fraternal twins and siblings.

  • The MacManus brothers are fraternal twins.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Two studies compared the smoking behaviors of identical and fraternal twin pairs.

    Academic text (1991)
  • If heredity affects a trait, identical twins should be more similar for the trait than fraternal twins.

    Blog text (1)
  • Her family now includes two fraternal twins named Peter and Clio.

  • In November, it will be five years since Nicole Aldrian gave birth to fraternal twins, a boy and a girl.

  • You know, I'll tell you that many parents enjoy the unique experience of raising fraternal twins.

Synonyms

dizygotic twin
vsfraternal twin
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A twin who comes from a different egg and is not identical to the other twin

is the common term for siblings born together who may differ in appearance

How Genetically Identical

monozygotic twin
  • Specialized
1 7.2
fraternal twin
4 3.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

fraternal + twin

The phrase is fully compositional: 'fraternal' specifies a type of 'twin' (non-identical, from separate fertilized eggs), so a learner who knows both word meanings can derive the full sense. Although 'fraternal' is somewhat technical, its modifier role is clear and similar distinctions exist in many languages, making the combination predictable.

Etymology

Fraternal twin uses fraternal, a word meaning 'brother', to picture two twin babies born at the same time from two different eggs. Because they come from separate eggs they can look different or be 'different sexes', so the phrase means 'twins who are not identical'.