Chinese word

双胞胎

Pronunciation

Pinyinshuāng bāo tāi

Meaning

  • nountwins

Example

她生了一对双胞胎。tā shēng le yí duì shuāng bāo tāi

She gave birth to twins.

Illustration for 双胞胎 (twins)

More examples

他们是双胞胎，但性格完全不同。tā men shì shuāng bāo tāi dàn xìng gé wán quán bù tóng

They are twins, but their personalities are completely different.

Core concept

Two children develop in one pregnancy and are born as a pair.

Common phrases

  • 一对双胞胎yí duì shuāng bāo tāi

    a pair of twins

  • 双胞胎兄妹shuāng bāo tāi xiōng mèi

    twin brother and sister

  • 同卵双胞胎tóng luǎn shuāng bāo tāi

    identical twins

  • 异卵双胞胎yì luǎn shuāng bāo tāi

    fraternal twins

Similar words

孪生儿luán shēngr: A casual term for two children who develop in and are born from the same pregnancy.
同卵双胞胎tóng luǎn shuāng bāo tāi: Twins formed when one fertilized egg splits, giving them nearly identical genes.
异卵双胞胎yì luǎn shuāng bāo tāi: Twins that develop from two separate fertilized eggs and have different genes.
龙凤胎lóng fèng tāi: A pair of twins consisting of a boy and a girl.

Definition in Chinese

指在一次怀孕中同时出生的两个孩子，可为一卵性或二卵性。zhǐ zài yí cì huái yùn zhōng tóng shí chū shēng de liǎng gè hái zi kě wèi yì luǎn xìng huò èr luǎn xìng

Word origin

双 (shuāng, "two") + 胞 (bāo, "womb") + 胎 (tāi, "fetus") combines the ideas of two fetuses sharing one pregnancy.

Usage tips

  • Chinese often frames this noun with the measure word 对 (duì, "pair"), while English usually treats the equivalent as an ordinary plural noun.

Other meanings

  • identical twinsnoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 同卵双胞胎tóng luǎn shuāng bāo tāiidentical twinsnoun
  • 异卵双胞胎yì luǎn shuāng bāo tāifraternal twinsnoun
  • 双胞胎姐妹shuāng bāo tāi jiě mèitwin sistersnoun

Word lists with this word