dozen en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ˈdʌzən/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- (California) audio
- /ˈdɐzən/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
Etymology
From Middle English dozen, dozein, doseyne, from Old French dozaine (“a group of twelve”) (Modern French douzaine), from doze (“twelve”) + -aine (“-ish”), from Latin duodecim (“twelve”) (from duo (“two”) + decem (“ten”)) + -ana (“-ish”).
Meanings
-
A set of twelve.
There are hundreds of people from each continent in the convention but only a few dozen came from Africa.
Almost three dozen US service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the Iranian missile attack earlier this month, the Pentagon said Friday.
2020 January 26, Leah Asmelash, “Why traumatic brain injuries can be dangerous”, in CNN:Can I have a dozen eggs, please?
Pack the shirts in dozens, please.
I ordered two dozen doughnuts.
-
(as plural only, qualifier:always followed by of) 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.
There were dozens and dozens of applicants before the job was posted.
There must have been dozens of examples just on the first page.
Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade.
2012 March 14, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2012, page 128:Jessalyn, known to her family as Jessa, was one of the dozens who were hit.
2022 October 26, Christina Zdanowicz, Claudia Dominguez, Lauren M. Johnson and Sara Smart, “The Waukesha victims included an 8-year-old boy, a loving grandmother and a woman excited to make her debut in the Dancing Grannies”, in CNN:
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An old English measure of ore containing 12 hundredweight.
The dozen as a measure for iron ore remained almost completely constant at 12 cwts. during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 139:
- The number twelve.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| dozen | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| doz | alternative | lexicographic | |
| dozens | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Antonyms
few (antonym(s) of)
Deriveds
two-dozen · six of one, half dozen of the other · banker's dozen · thirteen to the dozen · half dozen · long dozen · daily dozen · dozens offer · cheaper by the dozen · decimal dozen · Botany Bay dozen · half-dozen · nineteen to the dozen · half a dozen · short dozen · buzzin' dozen · twenty to the dozen · dime a dozen · ten to the dozen · dozens · baker's dozen · double dozen · dozenth · devil's dozen · by the dozen · dozenal
Descendants
darjan · dwsin · दर्जन · 打 · dussan · ডজন · dasan · dusan · taihana · ダース · dazeni
Relateds
Synonyms
many · a great deal of (followed by of: a large number of) · million of · load of · thousand of · lot of · hundred of · scad of · heap of · a lot of · score of
Translations (111)
da dusin (twelve) · yue 打 (twelve) · sl ducat (twelve) · sv tolft (twelve) · eo dekduo (twelve) · my ဒါဇင် (twelve) · vo degtelat (twelve) · vi tá (twelve) · et tosin (twelve) · sh туцет (twelve) · it centinaia (dozens: a large number) · nl dozijn (twelve) · oc dotzena (twelve) · mk дузина (twelve) · fi tusina (twelve) · wa dijhinnes (dozens: a large number) · nl tientallen (dozens: a large number) · it dozzina (twelve) · grc δωδεκάς (twelve) · it migliaia (dozens: a large number) · sh туце (twelve) · io dek-e-du (twelve) · af dosyne (dozens: a large number) · nb tylft (twelve) · fi tusinoittain (dozens: a large number) · pl kilkadziesiąt (dozens: a large number) · es docena (twelve) · oc dotzenat (dozens: a large number) · de Dutzende (dozens: a large number) · non tylft (twelve) · ja ダース (twelve) · af dosyn (twelve) · sk tucet (twelve) · cs tucet (twelve) · ar دَسْتَة (twelve) · pl tuzin (twelve) · dsb dwanastk (twelve) · nan-hbl 打 (twelve) · ru мно́жество (dozens: a large number) · yi טוץ (twelve) · el ντουζίνα (twelve) · nn dusin (twelve) · pl tuziny (dozens: a large number) · sq duzinë (twelve) · cy dwsin (twelve) · fi kymmeniä (dozens: a large number) · fr douzaine (twelve) · be ту́зін (twelve) · bg десетки (dozens: a large number) · lt tuzinas (twelve) · he תְּרֵיסָר (twelve) · lv ducis (twelve) · arz درزن (twelve) · fo tylft (twelve) · ga dosaen (twelve) · th โหล (twelve) · is dúsín (twelve) · cmn 打 (twelve) · hi दर्जन (twelve) · hu tucat (twelve) · pl dziesiątki (dozens: a large number) · ru у́йма (dozens: a large number) · ru деся́тки (dozens: a large number) · hy դյուժին (twelve) · ht douzèn (twelve) · nb dusin (twelve) · an ducena (twelve) · es decenas (dozens: a large number) · gv dussan (twelve) · gl ducia (twelve) · ar دَزِّينَة (twelve) · sv dussin (twelve) · ro duzină (twelve) · eo dekoj (dozens: a large number) · gd dusan (twelve) · uk дю́жина (twelve) · sh tuce (twelve) · tr düzine (twelve) · km ឡូ (twelve) · nn tylft (twelve) · ur درجن (twelve) · wa dozinne (twelve) · pt centena (dozens: a large number) · afb درزن (twelve) · io dekeduo (twelve) · arz دستة (twelve) · id lusin (twelve) · hif darjan (twelve) · enm doseyne (twelve) · ca dotzena (twelve) · fi kymmenisen (twelve) · pt dúzia (twelve) · da tylvt (twelve) · fa دوجین (twelve) · rup duzinã (twelve) · is tylft (twelve) · fr dizaines (dozens: a large number) · de Dutzend (twelve) · aeb طُزِّينَة (twelve) · bg дузи́на (twelve) · dsb ducent (twelve) · ru дю́жина (twelve) · ml ഡസൻ (twelve) · mi taihana (twelve) · pt dezena (dozens: a large number) · ar دَرْزَن (twelve) · sw dazani (twelve) · sh tucet (twelve) · ko 다스 (twelve) · is dúsin (twelve) · az düjün (twelve)