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

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Etymology

Origin of twelfth

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

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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

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

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 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

The record, her twelfth studio release and a collaboration with “Red,” “1989” and “Reputation” producers Max Martin and Shellback,” has received . . . mixed reviews.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2025

“No, Potter, you can’t have it back yet,” Professor McGonagall told him the twelfth time this happened, before he’d even opened his mouth.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

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

The highest note, so to speak, in circulation represents this last area; but all calculations are made in staltau, or twelfths thereof.

From Across the Zodiac by Percy Greg

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

This pica body is divided into twelfths, which are termed "points," and every type body consist of a given number of these points.

From The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary Section T, U, V, and W by Project Gutenberg

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

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