twelve

American  

[twelv] / twɛlv /

noun

1. a cardinal number, 10 plus 2.

2. a symbol for this number, as 12 or XII.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. the Twelve, the 12 apostles chosen by Christ.

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adjective

1. amounting to 12 in number.

twelve British  

/ twɛlv /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and two See also number

2. a numeral, 12, XII, etc, representing this number

3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 12 units

4. Also called: twelve o'clock.  noon or midnight

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to twelve

      twelve loaves

   2. ( as pronoun ) See also dozen

      twelve have arrived

Etymology

Origin of twelve

before 900; Middle English twelve, inflected form of twelf, Old English twelfe literally, (ten and) two leave, i.e., two left over; cognate with Old Frisian twelef, twelf, Old High German zwelif, Old Norse tōlf, Gothic twalif; compare Lithuanian dvýlika; two, leave ¹, eleven

Example Sentences

Qatalum, an aluminum smelter jointly owned by Qatar and Norwegian aluminum company Norsk Hydro, started a controlled shutdown of output Tuesday and said a full restart would take six to twelve months, the analysts note.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

More than twelve hours after the hit, the area still smelled faintly of burning.

From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026

To explore this mystery, researchers reviewed more than twelve years of observations gathered through citizen science programs across France.

From Science Daily • Feb. 14, 2026

According to Companies House's website, Large is listed as being the director of twelve companies in the last 20 years, all of which are stated as dissolved.

From BBC • Feb. 11, 2026

“It’s a peace offering. You know, for before,” I said, flapping a hand that I hoped encompassed twelve years of general rudeness and animosity.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin