duodecimo

[doo-uh-des-uh-moh, dyoo-]

noun, plural du·o·dec·i·mos.

Also called twelvemo. a book size of about 5 × 7½ inches (13 × 19 cm), determined by printing on sheets folded to form 12 leaves or 24 pages. Symbol: 12 mo, 12°

a book of this size.

adjective

in duodecimo; twelvemo.

Origin of duodecimo

1650–60; short for Latin in duodecimō in twelfth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for duodecimo

Historical Examples of duodecimo

It was in the duodecimo form, and consisted of about three hundred pages.
The Celtic Magazine, Vol. I No. V
Various
Of Lintotts first duodecimo edition 2500 copies were quickly sold off.
Prices of Books
Henry B. Wheatley
The sizes of books had not yet all come to octavo or duodecimo.
The Printed Book
Henri Bouchot
Were it not for the riff-raff, that place would be a paradise in duodecimo.
A Transient Guest
Edgar Saltus
Her works have been published in eighty-four volumes, duodecimo.
Lives of Celebrated Women
Samuel Griswold Goodrich

British Dictionary definitions for duodecimo

duodecimo

noun plural -mos

Also called: twelvemo a book size resulting from folding a sheet of paper into twelve leavesOften written: 12mo, 12°

a book of this size

Word Origin for duodecimo

C17: from Latin phrase in duodecimō in twelfth, from duodecim twelve

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for duodecimo

1650s, from Latin in duodecimo (folded) "in a twelfth" of a sheet, from ablative of duodecimus "twelfth," from duodecim (see dozen). Often abbreviated 12mo.; a book in which each page is the twelfth part of the printer's sheet.