dozen

B1 Topic:Numbers & Quantity

Also spelled dozzened

US /ˈdʌzən/ See IPA manual

Freq #2726

Meanings

1

noun
A group or set of twelve.

Can I have a dozen eggs, please?
2

noun
A fairly large but unspecified number; many.

There were dozens of people waiting outside the shop.
3

adj
Amounting to twelve.

She bought a dozen roses for her mother.
4

verb
historical northern English dialect: to shrivel, wither, or waste away

The apples had dozened in storage until their skins were wrinkled and dry.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a group or set of twelve. twelve

3 adj · amounting to twelve. twelve

4 verb · historical northern english... shrivel witherwaste away

More many

Opposites

few flourish thrive

Word family

Forms dozens

Derived forms dozenaldozensdozenthdozeneddozeninghalf-dozentwo-dozen

Related forms gross doze shrivel wither

Appears in

Idioms (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English dozen, dozein, doseyne, from Old French dozaine (‘a group of twelve’) (modern French douzaine), from doze (‘twelve’) + -aine (‘-ish’), ultimately from Latin duodecim (‘twelve’). The unrelated historical northern English verb, also written dozzen, is probably connected with doze through older senses such as ‘to become torpid’; its deeper origin is uncertain.

dozen Middle English dozaine Old French duodecim Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Numbers & Quantity Register & Style

External links

# dozen

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈdʌzən/
**Frequency rank:** 2726

## Meanings
1. A group or set of twelve.
2. A fairly large but unspecified number; many.
3. Amounting to twelve.
4. historical northern English dialect: to shrivel, wither, or waste away

## Examples
- Can I have a dozen eggs, please?
- There were dozens of people waiting outside the shop.
- She bought a dozen roses for her mother.
- The apples had dozened in storage until their skins were wrinkled and dry.

## Synonyms
- many
- twelve
- shrivel
- wither
- waste away

## Antonyms
- few
- flourish
- thrive

## Derived Forms
- dozenal
- dozens
- dozenth
- dozened
- dozening
- half-dozen
- two-dozen

## Related Forms
- gross
- doze
- shrivel
- wither

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dozen
- Root: dozaine
- Root: duodecim

## Etymology
From Middle English dozen, dozein, doseyne, from Old French dozaine (‘a group of twelve’) (modern French douzaine), from doze (‘twelve’) + -aine (‘-ish’), ultimately from Latin duodecim (‘twelve’). The unrelated historical northern English verb, also written dozzen, is probably connected with doze through older senses such as ‘to become torpid’; its deeper origin is uncertain.

## AI Etymology
Dozen comes from Middle English dozen, dozein, doseyne, from Old French dozaine (“a group of twelve”) (Modern French douzaine), from doze (“twelve”) + -aine (“-ish”), from Latin duodecim (“twelve”) (from duo (“two”) + decem (“ten”)) + -ana (“-ish”). In current use, the main senses are “A group or set of twelve” and “A fairly large but unspecified number; many”.

## Topics
- Numbers & Quantity
- Register & Style

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