twelve
/twɛlv/number, noun
twelve is spelled T-W-E-L-V-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a number, twelve means “The cardinal number occurring after eleven and before thirteen, represented in Arabic numerals as 12 and in Roman numerals as XII” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in twelve?
| Letters | 6: T-W-E-L-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 22 times per million words; the 3,939th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is twelve?
Twelve appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 3,939th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce twelve?
- US /twɛlv/
- US [tʰw̥ɛɫv]
- Australia /twɜːlv/ [tʰw̥əːɫv]
Twelve has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-twelve.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with twelve?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as twelve from its last stressed vowel (/ɛlv/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of twelve
- 12
- twelves plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does twelve mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
number
- 1
The cardinal number occurring after eleven and before thirteen, represented in Arabic numerals as 12 and in Roman numerals as XII.
There are twelve months in a year.
noun
- 1
A group of twelve items.
Fractions would be a little easier if we counted by twelves.
- 2
A twelve-bore gun.
- 3
colloquialA jury (normally composed of twelve persons).
- 4
slangThe police; law enforcement, especially a narcotics officer.
- 5
slangFront (front side of something, position in front of something).
watch your twelve
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Twelve in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense cardinal number 12:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does twelve come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).