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Dozen - 6 dictionary results
doz⋅en
1
[duhz-uh
n] 
noun, plural doz⋅ens, (as after a numeral) doz⋅en, adjective –noun
| 1. | a group of 12. |
| 2. | the dozens, Slang. a ritualized game typically engaged in by two persons each of whom attempts to outdo the other in insults directed against members of the other's family (usually used in the phrase play the dozens). |
–adjective
| 3. | twelve. |
Origin:
1250–1300; ME dozeine < OF do(u)zaine, equiv. to do(u)ze (< L duodecim) + -aine (< L -āna) -an
1250–1300; ME dozeine < OF do(u)zaine, equiv. to do(u)ze (< L duodecim) + -aine (< L -āna) -an
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To Dozen
| doz·en (dŭz'ən) n.
[Middle English dozeine, from Old French dozaine, from doze, twelve, ultimately from Latin duodecim : duo, two; see dwo- in Indo-European roots + decem, ten; see dek  in Indo-European roots.]doz'enth (-ənth) adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Dozen
Doz"en\, n.; pl. Dozen (before another noun), Dozens. [OE. doseine, dosein, OF. doseine, F. douzaine, fr. douze twelve, fr. L. duodecim; duo two + decem ten. See Two, Ten, and cf. Duodecimal.]1. A collection of twelve objects; a tale or set of twelve; with or without of before the substantive which follows. "Some six or seven dozen of Scots." "A dozen of shirts to your back." "A dozen sons." "Half a dozen friends." --Shak. 2. An indefinite small number. --Milton. A baker's dozen, thirteen; -- called also a long dozen.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Dozen
Spanish:
docena,
German:
das Dutzend,
Japanese:
ダース
dozen
c.1300, from O.Fr. dozeine "a dozen," from douze "twelve," from L. duodecim, from duo "two" + decem "ten." The O.Fr. fem. suffix -aine is characteristically added to cardinals to form collectives in a precise sense ("exactly 12," not "about 12"). The dozens "invective contest" (1928) originated in slave culture, the custom probably African, the word probably from bulldoze (q.v.) in its original sense of "a whipping, a thrashing."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
