Tandems

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A configuration where two elements, such as bicycles or tasks, operate side by side in cooperation or sequence
2. a partnership or arrangement that involves dual engagement or function
3. a situation where two parties or components work together to achieve a common goal or result

Etymology: The Latin word "tandem" originally meant "at length" or "at last" in the sense of time, and it was a humorous English coinage that gave it its vehicle sense. English speakers applied it to two horses harnessed one behind the other, "at length" in a single line, rather than side by side as a pair. That joke about the horses' arrangement is what the word first described. From there the sense spread. A tandem came to mean any arrangement where two people or things work in a line, most famously a two-seat bicycle, where the riders pedal one behind the other. The word has since moved beyond vehicles, so that people can work "in tandem" on a project, the sense the plural "tandems" usually signals in the plural. The noun was borrowed from Latin, and the adjective, adverb, and verb were all later derived from it.

Synonyms: pairs, couples, duos, couplings, teams