twelfth

• twelfe (obsolete, but the corresponding pronunciation /twɛlf/ is still widespread today)
• twelveth (archaic)

From Middle English twelfthe, twelfte, from Old English twelfta (“twelfth”), from Proto-Germanic *twaliftô (“twelfth”), equivalent to twelve +‎ -th. Cognate with Scots twelft (“twelfth”), Saterland Frisian tweelfte (“twelfth”), West Frisian tolfde (“twelfth”), Dutch twaalfde (“twelfth”), German Low German twalfde, twalvde (“twelfth”), German zwölfte (“twelfth”), Danish tolvte (“twelfth”), Swedish tolfte (“twelfth”), Icelandic tólfta (“twelfth”).

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /twɛlfθ/, /twɛlθ/, /twɛlf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlfθ, -ɛlθ, -ɛlf

twelfth (not comparable)

1. The ordinal form of the number twelve, describing a person or thing in position number 12 of a sequence.

   The answer appears on the twelfth page of the book.

   She finished twelfth in the race.

• (ordinal form of twelve): 12th, 12^th; XII (in names of monarchs and popes); dozenth

twelfth (plural twelfths)

1. One of twelve equal parts of a whole.

   A twelfth of 240 is 20.

   Five twelfths of the population voted in support of the proposal.

2. (music) An interval equal to an octave plus a fifth

• (one of twelve equal parts): dozenth