Probably of ultimately Slavic origin, from Proto-Slavic*bliznьcь; compare Albanian binjak, Bulgarian близна́к(bliznák), Serbian blizanac. The variant form binat has been proposed to derive from a Vulgar Latin *binātus[1] as the past participle of a verb *binō, bināre ("to repeat, double"), from Latin bīnī (cf. Italian binare). However, this is unlikely. The form biznat may have been formed analogically as a singular of the original biznats, which came to be interpreted as a plural.