'two-core' is a modern English compound formed from the numeral 'two' and the noun 'core'. 'two' originates from Old English 'twā' (from Proto-Germanic '*twai'), where the root meant 'two'. 'core' ultimately comes from Latin 'cor, cord-' meaning 'heart' (via Old French and Middle English), generalized to mean 'central part'.

'two-core' was coined in the late 20th / early 21st century in computing jargon by compounding 'two' + 'core' to describe processors with two cores; it follows the pattern of compounds like 'dual-core' and 'quad-core'.

Initially, the components 'two' and 'core' kept their original numerical and 'central part' senses; combined, they came to mean specifically 'having two processing cores' in computing contexts, a specialized technical sense.