twelve

A1 Topic:Numbers & Quantity

US /twɛlv/ UK /twɛlv/ See IPA manual

Freq #3521

Meanings

1

num
The number 12, which comes after eleven and before thirteen.

There are twelve months in a year.
2

noun
The number twelve, equal to eleven plus one.

Six plus six makes twelve.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 num · the number 12, which comes... dozen

2 noun · the number twelve, equal to... dozen

Word family

Forms twelves

Related forms dozen twelfth

Simplified etymology

Twelve is inherited from Old English and comes from the same ancient source as two. It belongs to a native word family that also includes twain, twenty, twilight, and twin.

Etymology

From Middle English twelve, from Old English twelf (“twelve”), from Proto-Germanic *twalif, an old compound of *twa- (“two”) and *-lif (“left over”) (i.e., two left over after having already counted to ten), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“leave, remain”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian tweelf, tweelif, tweelich (“twelve”), West Frisian tolve (“twelve”), Dutch twaalf (“twelve”), German Low German twalf, twalv (“twelve”), German zwölf (“twelve”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian tolv (“twelve”), Icelandic tólf (“twelve”).

*leyp- Proto-Indo-European twelve Middle English twelf Old English *twalif Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Numbers & Quantity

External links

# twelve

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** num, noun
**IPA (US):** /twɛlv/
**IPA (UK):** /twɛlv/
**Frequency rank:** 3521

## Meanings
1. The number 12, which comes after eleven and before thirteen.
2. The number twelve, equal to eleven plus one.

## Examples
- There are twelve months in a year.
- Six plus six makes twelve.

## Related Forms
- dozen
- twelfth

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *leyp-
- Root: twelve
- Root: twelf
- Root: *twalif

## Etymology
From Middle English twelve, from Old English twelf (“twelve”), from Proto-Germanic *twalif, an old compound of *twa- (“two”) and *-lif (“left over”) (i.e., two left over after having already counted to ten), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“leave, remain”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian tweelf, tweelif, tweelich (“twelve”), West Frisian tolve (“twelve”), Dutch twaalf (“twelve”), German Low German twalf, twalv (“twelve”), German zwölf (“twelve”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian tolv (“twelve”), Icelandic tólf (“twelve”).

## AI Etymology
Twelve is from Middle English twelve, from Old English twelf (“twelve”), from Proto-Germanic *twalif, an old compound of *twa- (“two”) and *-lif (“left over”) (i.e., two left over after having already counted to ten), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“leave, remain”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian tweelf, tweelif, tweelich (“twelve”), West Frisian tolve (“twelve”), Dutch twaalf (“twelve”), German Low German twalf, twalv (“twelve”), German zwölf (“twelve”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian tolv (“twelve”), Icelandic tólf (“twelve”).

## Topics
- Numbers & Quantity

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