between

English Online Dictionary. What means between‎? What does between mean?

English

Alternative forms

• betweene (archaic)
• betwene (archaic)
• b/w (abbreviation)
• btwn (abbreviation)
• btw (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Middle English betwene, from Old English betwēonum (“between, among”, dative plural, literally “by the two, near both”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- (“be-”) + *twīhnaz (“two each”), corresponding to be- +‎ twain. Cognate with Scots between (“between”), Scots atween (“between”), Gothic 𐍄𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌹 (tweihnai, “two each”), Old English betweohs (“between”), Old English twinn (“double, twofold”). More at betwixt, twin.

More distantly related to Ancient Greek διά (diá, “through, across, by, over”) whence English dia- (“through, across, between”).

For the meaning development also compare with Mongolian хооронд (xoorond, “between”), connected with Mongolian хоёр (xojor, “two”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈtwiːn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /bəˈtwin/, /bɪˈtwin/, [bɪˈtʰwin]
• Hyphenation: be‧tween
• Rhymes: -iːn

Preposition

between

1. In the position or interval that separates (two things), or intermediate in quantity or degree. (See Usage notes below.)
2. Done together or reciprocally.
3. Shared in confidence.

4. In transit from (one to the other, or connecting places).
5. Combined (by effort or ownership).

6. One of (representing a choice).

7. Taking together the combined effect of.

Usage notes

• It is sometimes said that between usually applies to two things, while among applies to more than two things. According to the Oxford English Dictionary: "In all senses, between has been, from its earliest appearance, extended to more than two. In OE and ME, it was so extended in sense 1, in which among is now considered better. It is still the only word available to express the relation of a thing to many surrounding things severally and individually, among expressing a relation to them collectively and vaguely: we should not say ‘the space lying among the three points,’ or ‘a treaty among three powers,’ or ‘the choice lies among the three candidates in the select list,’ or ‘to insert a needle among the closed petals of a flower’".

Synonyms

• atween (archaic)
• atwix (dialectal)
• atwixt (archaic)
• betwixt (archaic)
• betwixte (archaic)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• betwixt
• among

Noun

between (plural betweens)

1. A kind of needle, shorter than a sharp, with a small rounded eye, used for making fine stitches on heavy fabrics.

References

Anagrams

• betwene

Chinese

Etymology

Reinterpretation of English btw as an abbreviation of between.

Pronunciation

Phrase

between

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang, neologism, humorous) BTW; by the way

   • Between, 唔使覺得奇怪，D字跡不是我的，我搵人代寫。 [Hong Kong Cantonese, trad.]
     Between, 唔使觉得奇怪，D字迹不是我的，我揾人代写。 [Hong Kong Cantonese, simp.]

     Between, m⁴ sai² gok³ dak¹ kei⁴ gwaai³, di¹ zi⁶ zik¹ bat¹ si⁶ ngo⁵ dik¹, ngo⁵ wan² jan⁴ doi⁶ se². [Jyutping]

     By the way, there's no need to be baffled, the handwriting [of this letter] isn't mine, I got someone to write it for me.