12

num

The verdict

“12” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a numeral. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
2
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Arabische Ziffern, welche die Zahl Zwölf darstellen

Corpus desk

Index DE-12 · 12 · German

12 · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "1" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for 12
PropertyValue
Headword12
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNumeral
Letters2
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „12“ im Deutschen

12sitzt jenseits der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Formen, im Schwanz spezialisierten oder seltenen Wortschatzes.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

12 is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anumeral. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Arabische Ziffern, welche die Zahl Zwölf darstellen".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for 12, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is 12, spelled 1-2.

Definition

  1. 1
    Arabische Ziffern, welche die Zahl Zwölf darstellen

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how 12 appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 12 × 12 = 144

Synonyms

CXIIxii

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "12"?
"12" is spelled 1-2.
What does "12" mean?
As a numeral, "12" means: Arabische Ziffern, welche die Zahl Zwölf darstellen
What language does "12" come from?
"12" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list