Meanings
alternative twelvety
- nonstandardOne hundred and twenty; 120.
Thirty-six from a hundred and twenty-nine? [twelvety-nine.]
1854, Thomas H. Palmer, Arithmetic, Oral and Written, page 361 more example
The twelfty-six [126] weeks' strike taught us the value of being organized
1922, International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, Report and Proceedings of the Convention, page 1
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishhundtwelftiġ
- Englishtwelfty
From twelve + -ty, from Old English hundtwelftiġ. Compare hundseofontiġ, hundeahtatig, hundniġontiġ and hundtēontiġ for modern seventy, eighty, ninety and one hundred, reflecting the old Germanic hybrid base-ten and base-twelve numbering system. This hund was used for counting higher decades, and eventually became the root of hundred. Hund originally meant 120 (now called a long hundred or great hundred, and preserved in the term hundredweight), but was used to translate multiples of Latin centum (“100”), and eventually picked up that value when used in isolation as well.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch honderdtwintig
- honderdtwintigone hundred twenty
Esperanto cent dudek
- cent dudekone hundred twenty
French douzante, six-vingts
- douzanteone hundred twenty
- six-vingtsone hundred twenty
Welsh chweugain
- chweugainone hundred twenty
Cite this entry
twelfty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/twelfty
“twelfty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/twelfty. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “twelfty,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/twelfty.
Source: twelfty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.