Definitions for dozen
ˈdʌz əndozen

Princeton's WordNet(3.50 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. twelve, 12, XII, dozenadjective

   the cardinal number that is the sum of eleven and one

2. twelve, 12, xii, dozenadjective

   denoting a quantity consisting of 12 items or units

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. dozennoun

   A set of twelve.

   Etymology: From douzaine, from duodecim, from duo + decem

2. dozennoun

   A large, unspecified number of, comfortably estimated in small multiples of twelve, thus generally implied to be significantly more than ten or twelve, but less than perhaps one or two hundred; many.

   Etymology: From douzaine, from duodecim, from duo + decem

3. dozennoun

   An old English measure of ore containing 12 hundredweight.

   Etymology: From douzaine, from duodecim, from duo + decem

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Dozen

   of Dozen

   Etymology: [OE. doseine, dosein, OF. doseine, F. douzaine, fr. douze twelve, fr. L. duodecim; duo two + decem ten. See Two, Ten, and cf. Duodecimal.]

2. Dozennoun

   a collection of twelve objects; a tale or set of twelve; with or without of before the substantive which follows

   Etymology: [OE. doseine, dosein, OF. doseine, F. douzaine, fr. douze twelve, fr. L. duodecim; duo two + decem ten. See Two, Ten, and cf. Duodecimal.]

3. Dozennoun

   an indefinite small number

   Etymology: [OE. doseine, dosein, OF. doseine, F. douzaine, fr. douze twelve, fr. L. duodecim; duo two + decem ten. See Two, Ten, and cf. Duodecimal.]

Freebase(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Dozen

   A dozen is a grouping of twelve. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the moon or months in a cycle of the sun or year. Twelve is convenient because its multiples and divisors are convenient: 12 = 2 × 2 × 3, 3 × 4 = 12, 2 × 6 = 12, 60 = 12 × 5, 360 = 12 × 30. The use of twelve as a base number, known as the duodecimal system, probably originated in Mesopotamia. This could come from counting on one's fingers by counting each finger bone with one's thumb. Using this method, one hand can count to twelve, and two hands can count to 144. Twelve dozen are known as a gross; and twelve gross are called a great gross, a term most often used when shipping or buying items in bulk. A great hundred, also known as a small gross, is 120 or ten dozen. A baker's dozen, also known as a long dozen, is thirteen.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Dozen

   duz′n, adj. two and ten, or twelve.—n. a collection of twelve articles.—adj. Doz′enth.—Baker's dozen, Devil's dozen, thirteen. [O. Fr. dozeine—L. duodecim—duo, two, and decem, ten.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'dozen' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3738

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'dozen' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2355

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'dozen' in Nouns Frequency: #1222

Anagrams for dozen »

1. zoned

2. zendo

How to pronounce dozen?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say dozen in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of dozen in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of dozen in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of dozen in a Sentence

1. Stevie Beer:

   A colleague out for lunch messaged to say there had been an incident on London Bridge and he was unable to cross back over the river. I went straight to the window and saw hundreds of people running off the bridge down Tooley Street, people looked so panicked. Stevie Beer was haunting. There were at least half a dozen police cars and halted buses. Our building is now on lockdown, but we've not been given any concrete information.

2. George Ricker:

   This swath of the sky’s southern hemisphere includes more than a dozen stars we know have transiting planets based on previous studies from ground observatories.

3. Mladen Cadikovski:

   (But) it's a different feeling when you open the folder and see at least a dozen real conversations, that your life is sitting wide open in the palm of someone's hand.

4. Amy Klobuchar:

   Efforts have been made to suppress the vote. Efforts have been made to introduce bills that would suppress the vote, a dozen states including Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, have introduced legislation to limit access to vote by mail.

5. Peter Tuz:

   This is easily going to spill over into the second quarter, there isn't a day that goes by now without half a dozen companies expecting some sort of negative effect.

Images & Illustrations of dozen

Popularity rank by frequency of use