Twyes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Forks or branches where something divides into two parts, such as the separated limbs of a tree
2. Places where a single path, stem or stick splits into two diverging courses or prongs
3. Archaic forked points in a tree trunk or stick where it divides into two separate branches

Etymology: "Twyes" is the plural of "twy," an older English word for a two-pronged thing, such as a fork or a pair of tongs. Its ancestry lies in the Old English "twig," which described a branch, and the idea of a fork in a branch is the link. The number two is the thread running through it: the same Germanic root that gives English "two" also underlies the notion of something splitting into a pair. Because the word is now archaic, its exact sense in Middle English texts varies, and its relationship to the later word "tweezers" is debated. Some sources connect the two, but the details are not certain enough to state as fact.