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.

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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

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

The second group of evidence came from twelve long-term cohort studies that followed thousands of people over many years, with some studies lasting more than two decades.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

“As a result, they are more skeptical about their income expectations for the next twelve months.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Since 2013, Roblox says it has paid out more than $5 billion to creators, including $1.7 billion over the past twelve months.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

Some of them were as young as twelve, others in their late seventies.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Even though I was twelve, I’d never passed for eight.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

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

The biggest surprise came from New Zealand, which entered two innovative boats built not of wood or aluminum like traditional twelves but of fiber glass, prompting an instant nickname: plastic fantastics.

From Time Magazine Archive

They never mentioned Petra’s dream, Calder’s problem-solving, Charles Fort, the twelves, or the blue ones.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett