Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

twelfth

[twelfth]
See more synonyms for twelfth on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. next after the eleventh; being the ordinal number for 12.
  2. being one of 12 equal parts.
Show More
noun
  1. a twelfth part, especially of one (1/12).
  2. the twelfth member of a series.
Show More

Origin of twelfth

before 900; Middle English twelfthe, twelfte, Old English twelfta, equivalent to twelf twelve + -ta -th2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

duodecimaltwelfthduodenary

Examples from the Web for twelfth

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

British Dictionary definitions for twelfth

twelfth

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
Show More
noun
    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
Show More

Word Origin

from Old English twelfta
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 twelfth

adj.

Old English twelfta, cognate with Old Norse tolfti, Old Frisian twelefta, Old High German zwelifto, German zwölfte (see twelve + -th (1)).

Old English twelftan niht "Twelfth Night," the eve of Epiphany, which comes twelve days after Christmas, formerly was a time of merrymaking.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper