Siamese twin

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Chang and Eng Bunker, conjoined twins from Siam (modern Thailand), were known as the "Siamese twins".

Noun[edit]

Siamese twin (plural Siamese twins)

  1. A conjoined twin; one of two people physically joined together.
    • 1857, Herman Melville, chapter XXI, in The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade:
      the two stood together; the old miser leaning against the herb-doctor with something of that air of trustful fraternity with which, when standing, the less strong of the Siamese twins habitually leans against the other.
  2. (linguistics) Either of a pair of words that occur together as an idiomatic expression or collocation, as in "hammer and sickle", "short and sweet", or "spick and span".

Usage notes[edit]

Some consider the term "Siamese twin" to be offensive, as it inordinately links Thais and Thailand to the birth defect.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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