Meanings
plural duodecimos
- mediaA book having pages of that size.
In recent years, I have taken to reading while walking. I believe the Romantics were guilty of such behavior; a duodecimo was small enough to fit into a jacket pocket.
2015, William Logan, “A Critics Notebook”, in Guilty Knowledge, Guilty Pleasure, page 304
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA size of paper, so called because it is originally made by folding and cutting a single sheet from a printing press into 12 leaves; (5 by 7¾ inches): 6.5 to 7.5 inches high, approximately 4.5 inches wide.
Origin
Latin ablative of duodecimus (“twelfth”) (from duodecim 'twelve', from duo 'two' + decem 'ten')
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan dotzè, dotzè
- dotzèpaper size
- dotzèbook size
Dutch duodecimo, duodecimo
- duodecimopaper size
- duodecimobook size
French in-duodecimo, in-douze
- in-duodecimoto be checked
- in-douzeto be checked
- in-12ºto be checked
Cite this entry
duodecimo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duodecimo
“duodecimo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duodecimo. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “duodecimo,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/duodecimo.
Source: duodecimo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.