Dozen in Different Languages
Discover 'Dozen' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
A 'dozen' is a group of twelve, a number with unique significance in many cultures and societies. From a baker's dozen to the twelve apostles, the dozen's cultural impact is far-reaching. Understanding the translation of 'dozen' in different languages can provide insight into these cultural nuances and enhance your global understanding.
Did you know that the ancient Egyptians used a duodecimal (base 12) system for mathematics? This may be why the dozen, a subdivision of a gross (144), has been widely adopted. Or that the Chinese word for 'dozen', 士ruppe, also means 'ten soldiers', reflecting their military structure?
Whether you're a language learner, a culture enthusiast, or a businessperson dealing with international measurements, knowing the translation of 'dozen' can be beneficial. Here are some translations to get you started:
Dozen
Dozen in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | dosyn | ||
| The Afrikaans word "dosyn" comes from Middle Dutch "dusent", or "duzend", meaning "thousand", which refers to a large quantity, rather than twelve. | |||
| Amharic | ደርዘን | ||
| The word "dozen" comes from the Old French word "douzaine", which in turn comes from the Latin word "duodecim", meaning "twelve". | |||
| Hausa | dozin | ||
| The word "dozin" is also used to refer to a group of twelve, especially in the context of animals or objects. | |||
| Igbo | iri na abuo | ||
| In Igbo, "iri na abuo" literally translates to "ten with two," referring to the addition of two to ten. | |||
| Malagasy | ampolony | ||
| The word "ampolony" in Malagasy is derived from the Arabic word "ath-thalatha" (three) and the Malay word "puluh" (ten), indicating its original meaning was "three tens" (thirty). | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | khumi ndi awiri | ||
| The word comes from the Yao word 'khumi' (an amount of ten) and 'ndi awiri' (two). | |||
| Shona | gumi nemaviri | ||
| 'Gumi nemaviri' in Shona means 'dozen' and it is also a term used to refer to a group of twelve people or objects. | |||
| Somali | darsin | ||
| The term "darsin" also refers to a group of 20, as well as a type of cloth made up of 12 strips. | |||
| Sesotho | leshome le metso e 'meli | ||
| Swahili | dazeni | ||
| The Swahili word "dazeni" is derived from the Arabic word "dusin", which means "twelve". | |||
| Xhosa | ishumi elinambini | ||
| The word "ishumi elinambini" in Xhosa has a deeper meaning than just "dozen", representing the 12 months of the year. | |||
| Yoruba | mejila | ||
| The word "mejila" also refers to a group of twelve people, similar to the English term "jury." | |||
| Zulu | kweshumi nambili | ||
| The word "kweshumi nambili" literally means "ten and two" in Zulu. | |||
| Bambara | tan ni fila | ||
| Ewe | blaeve vɔ eve | ||
| Kinyarwanda | icumi | ||
| Lingala | zomi na mibale | ||
| Luganda | daziini | ||
| Sepedi | dozen ya go lekana | ||
| Twi (Akan) | dumien | ||
Dozen in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | دزينة | ||
| "دزينة" can also refer to the number 11 or the number 13 in Arabic. | |||
| Hebrew | תְרֵיסַר | ||
| The Hebrew word תְרֵיסַר (dozen) is related to the word שְׁרִיר (arm), as in ancient times a dozen was measured by the number of phalanges on an arm. | |||
| Pashto | درجن | ||
| The word "درجن" in Pashto has an uncertain etymology, but it is thought to be derived from the Persian word "ده" (dah), meaning "ten", and the suffix "-زن" (-zan), meaning "holder" or "container". | |||
| Arabic | دزينة | ||
| "دزينة" can also refer to the number 11 or the number 13 in Arabic. | |||
Dozen in Western European Languages
| Albanian | duzinë | ||
| The Albanian word "duzinë" is derived from the Italian "dozzina" and ultimately from the Latin "duodecim". | |||
| Basque | dozena | ||
| In Basque, the word "dozena" can also mean "large group" or "multitude." | |||
| Catalan | dotzena | ||
| The word "dotzena" in Catalan comes from the Latin word "duodecim" meaning "twelve" and shares the root with the English "dozen". | |||
| Croatian | desetak | ||
| The Croatian word "desetak" literally translates to "ten-piece", further emphasizing its grouping of ten. | |||
| Danish | dusin | ||
| In colloquial Danish, "dusin" can also refer to 10 or 11 items, or to a group of people | |||
| Dutch | dozijn | ||
| The Dutch word "dozijn" is derived from the Latin word "duodecim", meaning "twelve." | |||
| English | dozen | ||
| A "dozen" can also be a group of 13 or "baker's dozen". | |||
| French | douzaine | ||
| "Douzaine" comes from the Latin "duodecim" and can also mean "a group of twelve people" or "a period of twelve days". | |||
| Frisian | tsiental | ||
| The word "tsiental" is thought to derive from the Proto-Germanic word for ten, "tekhonto." | |||
| Galician | ducia | ||
| In Galician "ducía" can also mean "group or set", "congregation or gathering" and, more often than not, "group". | |||
| German | dutzend | ||
| "Dutzend" ultimately derives from the Old French "douzaine". In addition to its primary meaning of "dozen", "Dutzend" can also informally refer to a group of 11 or 13. | |||
| Icelandic | tugi | ||
| The word tugi derives from Old Norse tugi "number; team of four," possibly borrowed from a Celtic language. | |||
| Irish | dosaen | ||
| In the Irish language it is known as "dúisin", a diminutive from an Old Irish word, "dús" (abundant). | |||
| Italian | dozzina | ||
| The Italian word "dozzina" comes from the Latin word "duodecim", meaning "twelve". It can also refer to a group of twelve people or things, or to a set of items that are sold together. | |||
| Luxembourgish | dosen | ||
| Luxembourgish "Dosen" derives from Old French "douzaine" (dozen), ultimately from Latin "duodecim" (twelve). | |||
| Maltese | tużżana | ||
| The word "tużżana" derives from the Sicilian plural "tuzzini" of the Arabic "tūzin" that means a group of twelve. | |||
| Norwegian | dusin | ||
| Dusin in Norwegian is a loanword from French, and means "twelve", "dozen", "set" or "series". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | dúzia | ||
| The word 'dúzia' is also used in Portugal and Brazil to mean 'group' or 'set'. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | dusan | ||
| The word "dusan" in Scots Gaelic can also mean "a set" or "a group". | |||
| Spanish | docena | ||
| In Spanish, the word "docena" originally meant a group of 10, and only later came to refer to a group of 12. | |||
| Swedish | dussin | ||
| Swedish "dussin" derives from the French "douzaine" or "douze" (literally "twelve"), while also relating to the Medieval Latin "ducena" (literally "group of twelve"). | |||
| Welsh | dwsin | ||
| The Welsh word "dwsin" is derived from the Latin word "duodecim", meaning "twelve." | |||
Dozen in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | дзясятак | ||
| "Дзясятак" is the derivative of the Proto-Slavic word meaning "ten", and also means "tithe", "a group of ten people", and "a set of ten" | |||
| Bosnian | desetak | ||
| In addition to its common meaning, 'desetak' can also refer to a group of approximately ten people. | |||
| Bulgarian | десетина | ||
| The word "десетина" in Bulgarian originally referred to a group of ten, and later came to mean "dozen" in the sense of twelve. | |||
| Czech | tucet | ||
| In Czech, "tucet" is a synonym of "dozen" but is also colloquially used to refer to a group of twelve items. | |||
| Estonian | tosin | ||
| The word "tosin" in Estonian is derived from the Proto-Germanic root "*tuz-,* meaning "ten," but also "dozen" in some Germanic languages. | |||
| Finnish | tusina | ||
| The word "tusina" is derived from an Old Germanic root meaning ten. | |||
| Hungarian | tucat | ||
| The word <span style="font-variant-caps:small-caps">tucat</span> in Hungarian comes from the Latin word <span style="font-variant-caps:small-caps">duodecim</span>, which also means "dozen". It also means "twelve". | |||
| Latvian | ducis | ||
| Ducis is also used in Latvian to refer to a group of twelve people, such as a jury or a group of students. | |||
| Lithuanian | keliolika | ||
| The word "keliolika" comes from "keli", which means "many," and "lika", denoting an amount or quantity. | |||
| Macedonian | десетина | ||
| The word "десетина" also has a historical meaning: it was a tax paid by Macedonian peasants to Ottoman rulers in the 15th and 16th centuries. | |||
| Polish | tuzin | ||
| In Polish, "tuzin" originated from a German word, and also means a group of bad or low-quality things. | |||
| Romanian | duzină | ||
| In Romanian, "duzină" can also refer to a group of 12 items or to a generic group of items. | |||
| Russian | дюжина | ||
| The word "дюжина" also means a set of 12 or a group of people. | |||
| Serbian | десетак | ||
| The word "десетак" is also used to mean "about ten" or "a few". | |||
| Slovak | tucet | ||
| In Slovak, "tucet" can also refer to a group of 666 devils. | |||
| Slovenian | ducat | ||
| The word "ducat" is derived from the Latin word "duodecim", meaning "twelve", and is cognate with the words "dozen" and "duodecimal" in English. | |||
| Ukrainian | десяток | ||
| The word "десяток" in Ukrainian can also mean "a group of ten people" or "a collection of ten objects". | |||
Dozen in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | ডজন | ||
| The word "ডজন" derives from the French word "douzaine" and the Latin word "duodecim," both meaning "twelve," and its use in Bengali reflects the historical influence of French in the region. | |||
| Gujarati | ડઝન | ||
| The word "dozen" is derived from the Old French word "douzaine", which comes from the Latin word "duodecim", meaning "twelve". | |||
| Hindi | दर्जन | ||
| "दर्जन" (dozen) comes from the Persian word "dast" (hand), referring to a group of 12 since it's the number of knuckles on a hand. | |||
| Kannada | ಡಜನ್ | ||
| "Dozen" in Kannada also refers to the day of the week "Sunday" | |||
| Malayalam | ഡസൻ | ||
| The word "ഡസൻ" (dozen) in Malayalam originates from the French word "douzaine" meaning "a group of twelve". | |||
| Marathi | डझन | ||
| The word "डझन" in Marathi, meaning "dozen" in English, originates from the French word "douzaine". | |||
| Nepali | दर्जन | ||
| The Nepali word "दर्जन" is a borrowing from the Arabic word "درزن" (dozin), which originally referred to a unit of weight and later to a group of twelve. | |||
| Punjabi | ਦਰਜਨ | ||
| "ਦਰਜਨ" is derived from the Persian word "darzan" meaning "a set of twelve". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | දුසිමක් | ||
| It also means 'the twelve divisions of the human body' in Sinhala. | |||
| Tamil | டஜன் | ||
| In Tamil, "டஜன்" also refers to a group of 12 people or objects. | |||
| Telugu | డజను | ||
| "డజను" also means "a group of twelve" in Sanskrit, from which Telugu derives a lot of its words. | |||
| Urdu | درجن | ||
| The word "درجن" also means a group of twelve items that are sold together in a bundle. | |||
Dozen in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 打 | ||
| In certain texts, the Chinese character 打 (dozen) is counted as one number unit rather than two | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 打 | ||
| "打的" means taxi in Cantonese; it's short for 「打电话」（call the taxi）. | |||
| Japanese | ダース | ||
| The word "ダース" (dozen) is derived from the French "douzaine", meaning "a set of twelve". | |||
| Korean | 다스 | ||
| "다스" can also refer to the number of objects in a traditional Korean measure, equivalent to 20 or 30. | |||
| Mongolian | хэдэн арван | ||
| The word “дуран дуран” can also be a slang term meaning 'a little,' or 'not quite.' | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဒါဇင် | ||
| ဒါဇင် (dozen) is derived from the French word 'douzaine' meaning 'a group of twelve' and is also used to mean 'a set of similar things' in Myanmar (Burmese). | |||
Dozen in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | lusin | ||
| The word "lusin" is derived from the Malay word "lusin", which itself comes from the Hindustani word "darjan", which means "set of twelve". The word "lusin" is also used in other Southeast Asian languages, such as Thai, Burmese, and Vietnamese. | |||
| Javanese | rolas | ||
| The Javanese word "rolas" is derived from the Sanskrit word "dvadasha", meaning "twelve." | |||
| Khmer | បួនដប់ | ||
| The word "បួនដប់" can also mean "twenty-four" in Khmer, as it literally translates to "four times six." | |||
| Lao | ອາຍແກັ | ||
| ອາຍແກັ (dozen) comes from Sanskrit "dvadasa", meaning "twelve" and is related to English words "decade" and "duodecimal". | |||
| Malay | berpuluh-puluh | ||
| The word "berpuluh-puluh" in Malay can also mean "tens" or "many". | |||
| Thai | โหล | ||
| โหล in Thai is likely derived from the Mon word "hlaw," meaning "ten," but may also refer to a set of twelve. | |||
| Vietnamese | tá | ||
| In Vietnamese, "tá" can also informally refer to a small, unspecific quantity or a large quantity. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | dosena | ||
Dozen in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | onlarca | ||
| "Onlarca" (dozen) is also an Azerbaijani slang word meaning "much," "a lot," or "several." | |||
| Kazakh | ондаған | ||
| The word | |||
| Kyrgyz | ондогон | ||
| The word "ондогон" can also refer to a group of twelve people or objects. | |||
| Tajik | даҳҳо | ||
| The word "даҳҳо" is derived from the Persian word "ده" (pronounced "dah"), which also means "ten." It can also refer to "a great number" or "a lot" in Tajik. | |||
| Turkmen | onlarça | ||
| Uzbek | o'nlab | ||
| The word "o'nlab" may derive from the Old Persian word "dvādaśa," meaning "twelve." | |||
| Uyghur | ئون | ||
Dozen in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kakini | ||
| In Hawaiian mythology, 'kakini' also refers to the twelve guardians of Laka, the goddess of hula and forests. | |||
| Maori | tatini | ||
| The word "tatini" in Maori can also refer to a group of twelve people or a set of twelve things. | |||
| Samoan | taseni | ||
| The word "taseni" in Samoan also means "a handful" or "a group of people". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | dosenang | ||
| The alternative spelling of "dosenang" is "dosenas", originally from Spanish but now archaic. | |||
Dozen in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | tunka payani | ||
| Guarani | docena rehegua | ||
Dozen in International Languages
| Esperanto | dekduo | ||
| The word "dekduo" is derived from the Greek "δεκαδύο" (dekadyo), meaning "twelve". | |||
| Latin | dozen | ||
| The word "dozen" comes from the Latin word "duodecim", meaning "twelve." | |||
Dozen in Others Languages
| Greek | ντουζίνα | ||
| The word ντουζίνα (dozen) is borrowed from the French word "douzaine" and ultimately derives from the Latin "duodecim" meaning "twelve." | |||
| Hmong | kaum os | ||
| The word "kaum os" in Hmong has a literal meaning of "ten two" and is used to refer to a group of twelve items. | |||
| Kurdish | deste | ||
| In Kurdish, "deste" has additional meanings such as "bunch", "group", "team", or "set". | |||
| Turkish | düzine | ||
| 'Düzine', meaning 'dozen' in Turkish, comes from the Greek word 'dozenas', which also means 'dozen'. | |||
| Xhosa | ishumi elinambini | ||
| The word "ishumi elinambini" in Xhosa has a deeper meaning than just "dozen", representing the 12 months of the year. | |||
| Yiddish | טוץ | ||
| The Yiddish word "טוץ" (dozen) is derived from the Old High German "dutzent", which itself comes from the Latin "duodecim" (twelve). | |||
| Zulu | kweshumi nambili | ||
| The word "kweshumi nambili" literally means "ten and two" in Zulu. | |||
| Assamese | ডজন ডজন | ||
| Aymara | tunka payani | ||
| Bhojpuri | दर्जन भर के बा | ||
| Dhivehi | ދިހަވަރަކަށް | ||
| Dogri | दर्जन भर | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | dosena | ||
| Guarani | docena rehegua | ||
| Ilocano | dosena | ||
| Krio | duzin | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | دەیان | ||
| Maithili | दर्जन भरि | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯗꯖꯟ ꯑꯃꯥ꯫ | ||
| Mizo | dozen zet a ni | ||
| Oromo | kudhan kudhan | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଡଜନ | ||
| Quechua | chunka iskayniyuq | ||
| Sanskrit | दर्जनम् | ||
| Tatar | дистә | ||
| Tigrinya | ደርዘን ዝኾኑ | ||
| Tsonga | khume-mbirhi | ||