dozen English · revision 5785

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1300|origins=la duodecim}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdʌz.ən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English doseyn, dozeine, [[bor|fro|dozeine|t=a dozen]] (modern French douzaine),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|fro|doze|t=twelve]] and the collective suffix -aine,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[la|duodecim|t=twelve]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|duo|t=two]] and [[m|la|decem|t=ten]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The French suffix made collectives meaning exactly, not about, twelve.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A group of twelve: before 1300 in the OED, in ''Kyng Alisaunder'' in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''baker's dozen'' and other qualified dozens are from before 1529.^(OED 1989) A dozen was also a kind of coarse woollen cloth (1523),^(OED 1989) and in Scotland the town council of a burgh (1416), probably because it first had twelve members.^(OED 1989) An indefinite large number, as in ''dozens of times'', is a later use.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) ''The dozens'', a game of ritual verbal insults among Black Americans, is from 1928.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1300 – a group of twelve.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1416 – a burgh council (Scots).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1523 – a woollen cloth.^(OED 1989)

+ * a1529 – ''baker's dozen''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1928 – ''the dozens''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group or set of [[twelve]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(dozens)'' A large but [[indefinite]] [[number]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Twelve: ''a dozen eggs''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dozenth]]

+ * [[half-dozen]]

+ * [[baker's dozen]]

+ * [[daily dozen]]

+ * [[long dozen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[twelve]]

+ * [[duodecimal]]

+ * [[two]]

+ * [[ten]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Scots and northern dozen, to stun or make numb (and dozened, numb with cold), is a different word.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}