twelve

Translingual

Alternative forms

• Twelve, TWELVE

Etymology

Borrowed from English twelve.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtwɛlv]

Noun

twelve

1. (international standards) NATO, ICAO, ITU & IMO radiotelephony code for 12, used only with o'clock to indicate direction

English

English numbers ^(edit)

	120
←  11	12	13  →
Cardinal: twelve     Ordinal: twelfth     Latinate ordinal: duodecimary     Adverbial: twelve times     Multiplier: twelvefold     Latinate multiplier: duodecuple     Germanic collective: dozen, twelvesome     Greek or Latinate collective: duodecad, duodecade     Greek collective prefix: dodeca-     Latinate collective prefix: duodeca-     Fractional: twelfth, dozenth     Number of musicians: duodecet

Alternative forms

• Arabic numerals: 12
• Roman numerals: XII
• twelue (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English twelve, from Old English twelf (“twelve”), from Proto-Germanic *twalif, an old compound of *twa- (“two”) and *-lif (“left over”) (i.e., two left over after having already counted to ten), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“leave, remain”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian tweelf, tweelif, tweelich (“twelve”), West Frisian tolve (“twelve”), Dutch twaalf (“twelve”), German Low German twalf, twalv (“twelve”), German zwölf (“twelve”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian tolv (“twelve”), Icelandic tólf (“twelve”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: twĕlv, IPA^(key): /twɛlv/, [tw̥ɛɫv]
• (General Australian, New Zealand) enPR: twəlv, IPA^(key): /twəlv/, [tw̥əɫv], enPR: twĕlv, IPA^(key): /twelv/, [tw̥eɫv]
• (Southern US, African-American Vernacular, dated) enPR: twĕv, IPA^(key): /twɛv/, [tw̥ɛv]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlv

Numeral

twelve

1. The cardinal number occurring after eleven and before thirteen, represented in Arabic numerals as 12 and in Roman numerals as XII.

   There are twelve months in a year.

Synonyms

• twelveteen (nonstandard)

Derived terms

• feel twelve feet tall
• grade twelve
• it's better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six
• twelve bar blues
• twelve-bar blues
• twelve godfathers
• twelve good men and true
• twelve hundred
• twelve-inch
• twelve-note
• twelve-ounce curls
• twelve-penny nail
• twelve penny nail
• twelvesome
• twelve-speed
• twelve-stepper
• twelve stepper
• twelve-step program
• twelve-tone
• twelve-tone technique

 

Related terms

• Ordinal: twelfth

Descendants

• → Japanese: トゥエルブ (tuerubu)

Translations

cardinal number 12

• Afrikaans: twaalf (af)
• Ainu: tu ikasima wan
• Albanian: dymbëdhjetë (sq)
• Amharic: ዐሥራ ሁለት (ʿäśra hulät)
• Arabic: اِثْنَا عَشَرَ (iṯnā ʕašara)

  Egyptian Arabic: اتناشر (itnašar)

  Hijazi Arabic: اثنعش (iṯnaʕaš), اتنعش (itnaʕaš)

• Aragonese: dotze, doce, doze
• Aramaic: תרעסר m (tre‘sar), תרתעסרא f (tarta‘esrē)

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܬܪܸܥܣܲܪ (triˁsar)

  Syriac: ܬܪܥܣܪ m (treʿsar), ܬܪܬܥܣܪܐ f (tartaʿesrē)

• Armenian: տասներկու (hy) (tasnerku)
• Asturian: doce (ast)
• Aymara: tunka payani
• Azerbaijani: on iki (az)
• Bashkir: ун ике (un ike)
• Basque: hamabi (eu)
• Belarusian: двана́ццаць (be) (dvanáccacʹ)
• Bengali: বারো (bn) (barō) (numeral: ১২)
• Bikol Central: kagduwa
• Breton: daouzek (br)
• Brunei Malay: dua balas
• Bulgarian: двана́десет (dvanádeset), двана́йсет (dvanájset)
• Burmese: ဆယ့်နှစ် (my) (hcai.hnac) (numeral: ၁၂)
• Buryat: арбан хоёр (arban xojor)
• Carpathian Rusyn: двана́дцять (dvanádcjatʹ)
• Catalan: dotze (ca)
• Cebuano: napulog duha
• Central Sierra Miwok: ˀoṭíkšake·ny-
• Chakma: please add this translation if you can
• Chamicuro: chunka ma'pojta
• Chechen: шийтта (šiı̇tta)
• Cherokee: ᏔᎵᏚ (talidu)
• Chichewa: khumi n'ziwiri
• Chickasaw: awa toklo, pokkó'li awa toklo
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 十二 (sap⁶ ji⁶)

  Hakka: 十二 (sṳ̍p-ngi)

  Mandarin: 十二 (zh) (shí'èr) (numeral: 拾貳)

• Chuukese: engon me ru
• Chuvash: вуниккӗ (vunikkĕ), вуникӗ (vunik̬ĕ), вуник (vunik)
• Classical Nahuatl: mahtlāctli omōme
• Crimean Tatar: on eki
• Czech: dvanáct (cs)
• Dalmatian: dotco
• Danish: tolv (da)
• Dena'ina: nutiha beq'di
• Dhivehi: ބާރަ (bāra), ދޮޅަސް (doḷas)
• Dutch: twaalf (nl)
• Dzongkha: བཅུ་གཉིས (bcu gnyis)
• Esperanto: dek du
• Estonian: kaksteist (et)
• Faroese: tólv (fo)
• Fijian: tini ka rua
• Finnish: kaksitoista (fi)
• French: douze (fr)
• Friulian: dodis
• Galician: doce (gl)
• Garifuna: dûsu
• Georgian: თორმეტი (ka) (tormeṭi)
• German: zwölf (de)
• Gothic: 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍆 (twalif)
• Greek: δώδεκα (el) (dódeka)

  Ancient: δώδεκα (dṓdeka), ιβ΄ (numeral)

• Greenlandic: aqqaneq-marluk (kl)
• Gujarati: બાર (gu) (bār) (numeral: ૧૨)
• Haitian Creole: douz
• Hawaiian: ʻumikūmālua
• Hebrew: (used in counting) שְׁתֵּים־עֶשְׂרֵה f (shteim esre), שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂר m (shneim asar)
• Hindi: बारह (hi) (bārah)
• Hopi: pakwt niikyang löqmuy siikya’ta
• Hungarian: tizenkettő (hu)
• Hunsrik: zwellef
• Icelandic: tólf (is)
• Ido: dek-e-du (io)
• Indonesian: dua belas (id)
• Ingrian: kakstoist
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} dece-duo , ^{(please verify)} duodece
• Irish: dó dhéag (ga)
• Italian: dodici (it)
• Japanese: 十二 (ja) (じゅうに, jūni)
• Kannada: ಹನ್ನೆರಡು (kn) (hanneraḍu), ೧೨ (12) (numeral)
• Karelian: kaksitostu
• Kazakh: он екі (on ekı)
• Khiamniungan Naga: tshìekǜlǖmīeh, tshìekǜlǖmīeh
• Khmer: ដប់ពីរ (dop pī) (numeral: ១២)
• Komi-Permyak: даскык (daskyk)
• Korean: 열둘 (ko) (yeoldul), 십이(十二) (ko) (sibi)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دوانزە (dwanze), دوازدە (dwazde)

  Northern Kurdish: dazde (ku)

  Southern Kurdish: دوازدە (dwazde)

• Kyrgyz: он эки (ky) (on eki)
• Ladin: dodesc
• Lakota: akénuŋpa
• Lao: ສິບສອງ (sip sǭng) (numeral: ໑໒)
• Latgalian: divpadsmit
• Latin: duodecim (la)
• Latvian: divpadsmit (lv)
• Ligurian: dózze
• Lithuanian: dvylika (lt)
• Livonian: kakštuoistõn
• Lombard: dodes
• Louisiana Creole French: douz
• Low German: twölf (nds), twolf (nds)
• Lü: ᦉᦲᧇᦉᦸᧂ (ṡiibṡoang) (numeral: ᧑᧒)
• Luxembourgish: zwielef (lb)
• Macedonian: двана́есет (dvanáeset)
• Malagasy: roa ambinifolo
• Malay: dua belas (ms), sepuluh dua, satu puluh dua
• Malayalam: പന്ത്രണ്ട് (ml) (pantraṇṭŭ)
• Maltese: tnax
• Manchu: ᠵᡠᠸᠠᠨ
  ᠵᡠᠸᡝ (juwan juwe)
• Manx: daa yeig
• Maore Comorian: kumi na mbili
• Maori: tekau mā rua (mi), ngahuru mā rua (older term)
• Middle English: twelve
• Mon: စှ်ၜါ
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: арван хоёр (arvan xojor)

  Mongolian: ᠠᠷᠪᠠᠨ
  ᠬᠣᠶᠠᠷ (arban qoyar), (numeral) ᠑᠒ (12))

• Nauruan: ata ma aro
• Navajo: naakitsʼáadah
• Ngazidja Comorian: kume na -ili
• Northern Mansi: ^{(please verify)} китыгхуйплов (kityghujplov)
• Norwegian: tolv (no)
• Occitan: dotze (oc)
• Odia: ବାର (or) (bāra) (numeral: ୧୨ (12))
• Ojibwe: ashi-niizh
• Old Church Slavonic: дъва на дєсѧтє (dŭva na desęte) (numeral: в҃і)
• Old English: twelf
• Pali: dvādasa
• Pennsylvania German: zwelf, zwelfe
• Persian: دوازده (fa) (davâzdah)
• Piedmontese: dódes
• Polish: dwanaście (pl), (collective) dwanaścioro (pl)
• Portuguese: doze (pt)
• Punjabi: ਬਾਰਾਂ (bārā̃) (numeral: ੧੨)
• Quechua: chunka iskayniyuq
• Rakhine: please add this translation if you can
• Rohingya: baró
• Romagnol: dodṣ, dodg
• Romani: deśuduj

  Kalo Finnish Romani: deȟ-o-dui

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} doisprezece (ro) m, (informal) ^{(please verify)} doișpe (ro) m, ^{(please verify)} douăsprezece f or n, (informal) ^{(please verify)} douășpe f or n
• Romansch: dudesch (Grischun)
• Russian: двена́дцать (ru) (dvenádcatʹ)
• S'gaw Karen: တဆံခံ (ta hsee khee)
• Sami:

  Inari: kyehtnubáloh

  Northern: guoktenuppelohkái

  Skolt: kuâtmlo

  Southern: luhkie göökte

• Samoan: sefulu lua
• Sanskrit: द्वादश (sa) (dvādaśa)
• Santali: ᱜᱮᱞ ᱵᱟᱨ (gel bar)
• Sardinian: dóghi
• Scottish Gaelic: dà dheug, a dhà dheug
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: два́нае̄ст

  Roman: dvánaēst

• Shan: သိပ်းသွင် (síp sǎung)
• Sinhalese: දොළහ (doḷaha)
• Slovak: dvanásť (sk)
• Slovene: dvanájst (sl)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: dwanasćo

  Upper Sorbian: dwanaće

• Southern Altai: он эки (on eki)
• Spanish: doce (es)
• Sranan Tongo: twarfu
• Swahili: kumi na mbili
• Swedish: tolv (sv)
• Sylheti: please add this translation if you can
• Tagalog: labindalawa (tl)
• Tahitian: hō'ē 'ahuru ma piti
• Tajik: дувоздаҳ (tg) (duvozdah)
• Tamil: பன்னிரண்டு (ta) (paṉṉiraṇṭu)
• Tatar: унике (unike)
• Telugu: పండ్రెండు (te) (paṇḍreṇḍu)
• Thai: สิบสอง (th) (sìp-sɔ̌ɔng) (numeral: ๑๒)
• Tibetan: བཅུ་གཉིས (bcu gnyis)
• Tigre: ዐስር ወክልኦት (ʿäsr wäkləʾot), ዐስር ወክልኤ (ʿäsr wäkləʾe)
• Tigrinya: ዓሰርተ ክልተ (ʿasärtä kəltä)
• Tok Pisin: twelv, wanpela ten tu
• Tongan: hongofulu mā ua
• Turkish: on iki (tr)
• Turkmen: on iki (tk)
• Ukrainian: двана́дцять (uk) (dvanádcjatʹ)
• Urdu: بارہ (bārah)
• Uyghur: ئون ئىككى (ug) (on ikki)
• Uzbek: oʻn ikki (uz)
• Venetan: dódexe (vec)
• Vietnamese: mười hai (vi)
• Vilamovian: cwełf
• Volapük: degtel (vo), balsetel (older term, obsolete)
• Walloon: doze (wa)
• Welsh: deuddeg (cy) (vigesimal, traditional), undeg dau m (decimal), undeg dwy f (decimal)
• West Frisian: tolf (fy), tolve (fy)
• Wolof: fukk ak ñaar
• Yao: likumi kwisa wili
• Yiddish: צוועלף (tsvelf)
• Yup'ik: qula malruk
• Zazaki: dıwês (diq), desudıdı
• Zhuang: cib ngeih
• Zuni: asdemłan kwili yałdo'

See also

• Last: eleven. Next: thirteen

Noun

twelve (plural twelves)

1. A group of twelve items.

   Fractions would be a little easier if we counted by twelves.

2. A twelve-bore gun.
   • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 880:

     In this way Von Esslin ‘inherited’ two fine hammerless twelves which he used once or twice for duck on the Camargue.

3. (law, colloquial) A jury (normally composed of twelve persons).
4. (slang) The police; law enforcement, especially a narcotics officer.
5. (military slang, by ellipsis of twelve o'clock) Front (front side of something, position in front of something).

   watch your twelve

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:twelve.

Related terms

• twelfth

See also

• dozen

Middle English

Middle English numbers ^(edit)

←  11	12	13  →
Cardinal: twelve

Alternative forms

• twelfe, twelf, twælf, tuelf

Etymology

From inflected froms of Old English twelf, from Proto-West Germanic *twalif, in turn from Proto-Germanic *twalif.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtwɛlv(ə)/, /ˈtwɛlf(ə)/

Numeral

twelve

1. twelve

Descendants

• English: twelve
• Scots: twal, twol (obsolete twelf, twalf, tuelf)