twelve

American  

[twelv] / twɛlv /

noun

twelves plural

1. a cardinal number, 10 plus 2.

2. a symbol for this number, as 12 or XII.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. the Twelve, the 12 apostles chosen by Christ.

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adjective

1. amounting to 12 in number.

twelve British  

/ twɛlv /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and two See also number

2. a numeral, 12, XII, etc, representing this number

3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 12 units

4. Also called: twelve o'clock.  noon or midnight

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to twelve

      twelve loaves

   2. ( as pronoun ) See also dozen

      twelve have arrived

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• twelves
  plural

Etymology

Origin of twelve

before 900; Middle English twelve, inflected form of twelf, Old English twelfe literally, (ten and) two leave, i.e., two left over; cognate with Old Frisian twelef, twelf, Old High German zwelif, Old Norse tōlf, Gothic twalif; compare Lithuanian dvýlika; see two, leave ¹, eleven

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

twelve twelves

“The English Patient” was nominated for twelve Academy Awards and won nine, including Best Picture.

From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026

Researchers identified bones there belonging to at least twelve Neanderthals.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026

Historically, higher oil and fertilizer prices take up to twelve months to fully filter through food-supply chains, meaning much of the impact has yet to appear in consumer prices, Stamer said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

Despite the recent share price falls, SoftBank’s shares are still showing a healthy 46% return in 2026 and in the last twelve months an even more impressive 219%.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

“Eight times twelve is ninety-six! Do you recall that peculiar letter I sent you? Filled with pages about multiplication and ferns and so on?”

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

We need to think about the world in terms of twelves!

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 7, 2019

Six seeds are 86-50 against the elevens, fives are 89-47 against twelves, and once you get to fours vs. thirteens, you're in never gonna happen territory.

From Golf Digest ● Mar. 18, 2019

Your teacher chants, “Twelve twelves, a hundred thirty-four.”

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 17, 2012

In its line of eights and two lines of twelves are models for every taste in streamlining, as well as strictly conventional models for the strictly conventional.

From Time Magazine Archive

They never mentioned Petra’s dream, Calder’s problem-solving, Charles Fort, the twelves, or the blue ones.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett