twelve

American  

[twelv] / twɛlv /

noun

• twelves
  plural

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.

---

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

---

determiner

1. 1. amounting to twelve

      twelve loaves

   2. ( as pronoun ) See also dozen

      twelve have arrived

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• twelves
  plural

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; see two, leave ¹, eleven

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

twelve twelves

Anthony Darrell Hines, 66, who has maintained his innocence for four years and is bedridden, is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on Thursday under the same protocol that failed twelve weeks ago with Carruthers.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

It is his Excalibur, his Andúril, the vaunted weapon only he can string and use to hit a bullseye through a row of twelve crossed axes.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026

“Overall, people are taking a rather pessimistic view of their financial situation over the next twelve months,” according to the survey’s authors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

According to FactSet, the index now trades on a price-to-earnings multiple of just 7.6 times for the next twelve months.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

And then I was standing with a group of ten or twelve just inside the gate.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

We need to think about the world in terms of twelves!

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 7, 2019

Six seeds are 86-50 against the elevens, fives are 89-47 against twelves, and once you get to fours vs. thirteens, you're in never gonna happen territory.

From Golf Digest ● Mar. 18, 2019

Your teacher chants, “Twelve twelves, a hundred thirty-four.”

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 17, 2012

To lessen drag, Eagle's new tab-shaped rudder is much smaller than usual and is tucked farther forward than in most twelves.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Twelve twelves are a hundred and forty-four,” Little Britches pointed out.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck