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

Much less familiar is Guglielmo of Malavalle, a twelfth century hermit venerated by the Augustinians for defeating a dragon using a simple wooden staff shaped like a pitchfork.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 2, 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

One of the largest nationwide anti-government protests took place on Thursday, the twelfth night of demonstrations.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026

On the twelfth knell, the bonfire blazes, white and hot.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

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 Edward L. (Edward Lee) Thorndike

The cheek nailed on to them, named the "bench," or by some the "box," and made fast by means of dove-tailed tenons, is one hole thick and seven twelfths of a hole in height.

From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio

Everything has to be done by halves, quarters, or even tenths or twelfths, a la X. So I sit down again, cross my arms, and surrender myself to pure, unalloyed SUFFERING.

From Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt — Volume 2 by Francis Hueffer

Groups of sportsmen discuss the prospects of to-morrow in detail, and tell stories of ancient twelfths, while chieftains from London, in full Highland dress, are painfully conscious of the whiteness of their legs.

From Kate Carnegie and Those Ministers by Ian Maclaren