twelfth

American  

[twelfth] / twɛlfθ /

adjective

1. next after the eleventh; being the ordinal number for 12.

2. being one of 12 equal parts.

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noun

twelfths plural

1. a twelfth part, especially of one (1/12).

2. the twelfth member of a series.

twelfth British  

/ twɛlfθ /

adjective

1. (usually prenominal)

   1. coming after the eleventh in number or counting order, position, time, etc; being the ordinal number of twelve: often written 12th

   2. ( as noun )

      the twelfth of the month

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noun

1. 1. one of 12 equal or nearly equal parts of an object, quantity, measurement, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a twelfth part

2. the fraction equal to one divided by 12 ( 1/ 12 )

3. music

   1. an interval of one octave plus a fifth

   2. one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other

   3. an organ stop sounding a note one octave and a fifth higher than that normally produced by the key depressed

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• twelfths
  plural

Etymology

Origin of twelfth

before 900; Middle English twelfthe, twelfte, Old English twelfta, equivalent to twelf twelve + -ta -th ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

twelfth twelfths

"Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the twelfth flight test of Starship!" the company wrote on X.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

The Patriots, who already boasted the most Super Bowl appearances with 11, will now have their twelfth showing on American football's biggest stage, and a chance to vie for a record seventh Lombardi trophy.

From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026

The maqāma genre emerged in the late tenth century and became especially popular from the twelfth century onward.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 11, 2025

Yafai had moments of success and showed resilience, but was repeatedly hurt, notably in the seventh and ninth, before hitting the canvas in the twelfth.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2025

There was difficulty scheduling the twelfth round, which fell on a Saturday.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

If there are two and a tenth waves or eleven twelfths of a wave of one note for every wave of another note, they don't fit together as well.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Even adding the 5 and 7 in 5⁄12 + 7⁄12 is not quite the same task as adding 5 and 7 undisturbed by the fact that they are twelfths.

From The Psychology of Arithmetic by Thorndike, Edward L. (Edward Lee)

Divide the circle into sixths, then into twelfths.

From Philippine Mats Philippine Craftsman Reprint Series No. 1 by Miller, Hugo H.

In the syllable twelfths we find seven consonant sounds; but if these same letters were arranged in almost any other way they could not be pronounced as one syllable―as for instance wtelthfs.

From The Art Of Writing & Speaking The English Language Word-Study and Composition & Rhetoric by Cody, Sherwin

The windlass cup is two and seven twelfths holes long, two thirds of a hole thick, and three quarters broad.

From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio