Twelve in different languages

Twelve in Different Languages

Discover 'Twelve' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The number twelve has long held significance in various cultures and societies around the world. From the twelve apostles in Christianity to the twelve signs of the zodiac in astrology, this number has been associated with completeness and wholeness. In many traditional counting systems, twelve is a highly composite number, making it a useful and practical number to use in measurement and division. For example, there are twelve inches in a foot, and twelve months in a year.

Given its importance, you might be interested in learning how to say 'twelve' in different languages. In Spanish, 'twelve' is 'doce'. In French, it's 'douze'. In German, it's 'zwölf'. In Russian, it's 'двенадцать' (dvenadtsat'). In Chinese, it's '十二' (shí'èr).

Learning how to say 'twelve' in different languages can be a fun and interesting way to explore new cultures and broaden your linguistic horizons. Keep reading to discover more translations of this important number!

Twelve


Twelve in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaanstwaalf
The word "twaalf" in Afrikaans is derived from the Old Dutch word "tweelf", which itself comes from the Proto-Germanic word "*twa-lif" meaning "two-leftover".
Amharicአስራ ሁለት
The word "አስራ ሁለት" can also be used to describe a group of people or things that are twelve in number.
Hausagoma sha biyu
Hausa "goma sha biyu" means "twelve" and can also refer to a traditional Hausa hairstyle and a type of bean.
Igboiri na abụọ
In addition to meaning "twelve", "iri na abụọ" in Igbo is also an expression used to indicate the late afternoon or early evening time period.
Malagasyroa ambin'ny folo
"Roa ambin'ny folo", in Malagasy, is the addition of ten and two instead of a direct translation of "twelve". The word "roa" means ten while "folo" means two.
Nyanja (Chichewa)khumi ndi awiri
The number "twelve" in Nyanja (Chichewa) is also a traditional measurement used to count certain things, such as bundles of small fish or firewood.
Shonagumi nembiri
The word "gumi nembiri" can also mean "a group of twelve" or "a dozen" in Shona.
Somalilaba iyo toban
The Somali word "laba iyo toban" (twelve) literally translates to "two and ten".
Sesotholeshome le metso e mmedi
The literal translation of “leshome le metso e mmedi” is “hands that join and close”.
Swahilikumi na mbili
The Swahili word 'kumi na mbili,' meaning 'twelve,' translates literally to 'ten with two'.
Xhosashumi elinambini
'Shumi elinambini', also called the 'thumb', refers to the counting system involving counting on both hands before using one hand as reference, which gives rise to twelve fingers in total.
Yorubamejila
Mejila can also mean "twelve-year-old", such as in the praise name "Mejila Alo", meaning "the twelve-year-old is a warrior".
Zuluishumi nambili
The word "ishumi nambili" in Zulu is derived from "ishumi" (ten) and "nambi" (two), and also means "a dozen".
Bambaratannifila
Ewewuieve
Kinyarwandacumi na kabiri
Lingalazomi na mibale
Lugandakumi na bbiri
Sepedilesomepedi
Twi (Akan)dummienu

Twelve in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicاثني عشر
In addition to its numerical meaning, "اثني عشر" (ithnā ʿashar) also refers to the small intestine in Arabic due to its twelve segments.
Hebrewשתיים עשרה
The Hebrew word "שתיים עשרה" can also mean "twenty-second" in ordinal numbers.
Pashtoدولس
The word "دولس" can also mean "collection" or "group" in Pashto.
Arabicاثني عشر
In addition to its numerical meaning, "اثني عشر" (ithnā ʿashar) also refers to the small intestine in Arabic due to its twelve segments.

Twelve in Western European Languages

Albaniandymbëdhjetë
The Albanian word "dymbëdhjetë" (twelve) is derived from the Proto-Albanian word "*dŭmbidĭeti", meaning "two tens"
Basquehamabi
The word 'hamabi' derives from 'hamar' ('ten') and the Basque article '-bi' ('two').
Catalandotze
The Catalan word "dotze" also means "dozen" and comes from the Latin "duodecim", meaning "twelve".
Croatiandvanaest
The word 'dvanaest' originates from the Proto-Slavic word 'dъva na desęte', meaning 'two on ten'.
Danishtolv
The word "tolv" is derived from Proto-Germanic *twalib, which also meant "two-left" or "two remaining".
Dutchtwaalf
The word "twaalf" is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "twahlf" meaning "two-tens".
Englishtwelve
"Twelve" comes from the Old English "twelif," from the Proto-Germanic "*twalib" and the Proto-Indo-European root "*dwe-dek-m," meaning "two" and "ten."
Frenchdouze
In Old French, “douze” was written as “douse”, which meant both “twelve” and “sweet”.
Frisiantolve
Tolve can also mean "eleven" in certain dialects of Frisian.
Galiciandoce
The word "doce" in Galician, besides meaning "twelve", also refers to the day of the month, and to a type of popular music and dance of Galician origin.
Germanzwölf
"Zwölf" is derived from the Old High German word "zwelif", which means "two leftover", referring to the two leftover fingers after counting to ten on both hands.
Icelandictólf
Tolf, meaning "twelve" in Icelandic, also refers to the twelfth day of Yule and the midwinter solstice.
Irisha dó dhéag
Italiandodici
The Italian word "dodici" is derived from the Latin word "duodecim", which also means "twelve". In Old Italian, the word was "dodece", which has now evolved into "dodici".
Luxembourgishzwielef
The word "zwielef" is derived from the Old High German "zwelf" and is related to the English word "twelve".
Maltesetnax
The Maltese word "tnax" derives from the Arabic word "ithna 'ashar" and shares its root with the Hebrew word "shnayim 'asar".
Norwegiantolv
Tolv, meaning twelve in Norwegian, might have roots in a term denoting "two" and another for "left", i.e. two left until the hand is full, and is related to the German "zwölf" and Dutch "twaalf".
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)doze
The alternate meanings of “doze” are sleep, a light nap, and a lazy or idle person.
Scots Gaelicdhà-dheug
Spanishdoce
The word "doce" (twelve) in Spanish may derive from the Latin "duodecim" or from the Proto-Indo-European "-dek" (to make ten) meaning "to add 2"}
Swedishtolv
Tolv, meaning twelve in Swedish, comes from the Old Norse word "tolf", meaning multiple of four.
Welshdeuddeg
The number 12 in Welsh is composed of "deu" (two) and "deg" (ten).

Twelve in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianдванаццаць
Belarusian "дванаццаць" likely originates from Proto-Slavic *dvьnadestь referring to ten fingers and two feet.
Bosniandvanaest
"Dvanaest" originates from Proto-Slavic root *dvana­desetъ, deriving from the root *dъvа "two" and the suffix *-na-dъsetъ "ten".
Bulgarianдванадесет
The word "дванадесет" (twelve) in Bulgarian is composed of the words "два" (two) and "надесет" (ten), meaning literally "two and ten".
Czechdvanáct
Dvanáct derives from Proto-Slavic *dūvanadeset, composed of *dъva "two" and *nadeset "ten".
Estoniankaksteist
"Kaksteist" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word *kaksteihsa, meaning "two tens."
Finnishkaksitoista
"Kaksi" means "two" and "toista" means "second", so "kaksitoista" literally means "two second".
Hungariantizenkét
In a counting rhyme, the word "tizenkettő" is followed by "egy tucat", which literally means "a dozen".
Latviandivpadsmit
The word "divpadsmit" is derived from the Proto-Baltic word *dwei-desmit meaning "two tens".
Lithuaniandvylika
"Dvylika" shares the root word with "dvi", which means "two", indicating it was an assembly of two sixes.
Macedonianдванаесет
The root of this word is shared with "дванаест" (twelve) in other Slavic languages, including Russian, Polish, and Czech.
Polishdwanaście
"Dwanaście" likely derives from "dwa na ście" ("two on a hundred"): after counting to a hundred in the old Slavic system, people would start over with the same counting words on a new "hundred". This is why the numbers "eleven" through "nineteen" have names meaning "one on a hundred," "two on a hundred," and so on.
Romaniandoisprezece
In Romanian, "doisprezece" derives from Slavic "dva" (two) and "nadeset" (ten), representing the original base-12 counting system.
Russianдвенадцать
"Двенадцать" derives from the Proto-Slavic word *dъva na desęte, meaning "two on ten".
Serbianдванаест
"Дванаест" also means "the 12th one" or "12". In Slavic mythology, there are 12 (дванаест) days of winter solstice. Therefore, it is often a synonym for the word "December".
Slovakdvanásť
"Dvanásť" shares etymological roots with the Sanskrit "dvādaśa" and the Latin "duodecim"
Sloveniandvanajst
The word 'dvanajst' derives from Proto-Slavic and can also mean 'dozen'.
Ukrainianдванадцять
The Ukrainian word "дванадцять" is cognate with other Slavic languages such as Russian, Polish, and Czech, and is derived from the Proto-Slavic form *dъva na desęte, meaning "two on ten".

Twelve in South Asian Languages

Bengaliবারো
The word "বারো" (twelve) is also used to refer to a "dozon" in Bengali.
Gujaratiબાર
"બાર" in Gujarati can also refer to a measure of weight equivalent to about 1.2 kilograms.
Hindiबारह
बारह ('twelve') is cognate with 'bāra' meaning 'burden' in Prakrit and 'bhāra' meaning 'weight' in Sanskrit.
Kannadaಹನ್ನೆರಡು
The word "ಹನ್ನೆರಡು" has its origins in the Proto-Dravidian word "*panre" meaning "ten" and "*ir" meaning "two".
Malayalamപന്ത്രണ്ട്
Marathiबारा
The word "बारा" can also mean "a large group of people" or "a multitude" in Marathi, reflecting its Sanskrit origin "वारा" meaning "crowd".
Nepaliबाह्र
The Nepali word "बाह्र" (twelve) is related to the Sanskrit word "द्वादश" (dvādaśa), which also means twelve and is derived from the root "द्वि" (dvi) meaning "two" and "दश" (daśa) meaning "ten".
Punjabiਬਾਰਾਂ
The Punjabi word for "twelve" can also be used informally for any large group.
Sinhala (Sinhalese)දොළොස්
Tamilபன்னிரண்டு
Teluguపన్నెండు
"పన్నెండు" is a Sanskrit compound word derived from "पंच" (pancha - five) and "दश" (dasha - ten), together meaning "five over ten".
Urduبارہ
The word "بارہ" also means "a unit of twelve" and "a group of twelve" in Urdu.

Twelve in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)十二
十二 originally meant 'twelve animals' in the Chinese zodiac, but was later extended to mean 'twelve months' or 'twelve years'
Chinese (Traditional)十二
十二 (Shí'èr) is a compound word, composed of 十 (Shí)
Japanese12
十二 (jūni) can also mean "perfect" or "complete.
Korean열 두번째
열 두번째 ('twelve') can also mean 'repeatedly' or 'many times'.
Mongolianарван хоёр
Myanmar (Burmese)တကျိပ်နှစ်ပါး

Twelve in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianduabelas
Etymology of "duabelas" in Indonesian: "dua" (two) + "belas" (ten) + "-as" (suffix forming numeral multipliers)
Javaneserolas
In addition to its primary meaning as "twelve", the Javanese word "rolas" can also refer to a group of twelve people or objects.
Khmerដប់ពីរ
The Khmer word "ដប់ពីរ" can also mean "ten plus two" or "a baker's dozen."
Laoສິບສອງ
Malaydua belas
The Malay word "dua belas" is a compound word formed by "dua" (two) and "belas" (ten), where "belas" itself is derived from the Sanskrit word "dvadasa".
Thaiสิบสอง
The word "สิบสอง" (twelve) derives from the Sanskrit word "dvādaśa", and is cognate with the English word "dozen".
Vietnamesemười hai
"Mười hai" literally means "ten and two" in Vietnamese.
Filipino (Tagalog)labindalawa

Twelve in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijanion iki
"On iki" derives from the Old Turkic word "on eki" meaning "the second ten".
Kazakhон екі
The word "он екі" in Kazakh has its roots in the Old Turkic "on äki" and can also mean "the whole thing" or "the full number".
Kyrgyzон эки
"Он эки" means "two twenties" in Kyrgyz, as the decimal system was first introduced in Central Asia in the 17th century.
Tajikдувоздаҳ
The word "дувоздаҳ" in Tajik can also mean "a dozen".
Turkmenon iki
Uzbeko'n ikki
The word "o'n ikki" in Uzbek is composed of the words "o'n" (ten) and "ikki" (two), and can also mean "the two of ten" or "the eleventh".
Uyghurئون ئىككى

Twelve in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianumikumālua
In Hawaiian mythology, the term 'umikumālua' also refers to the twelve nights of the new moon.
Maoritekau ma rua
Samoansefulu ma le lua
The Samoan word "sefulu ma le lua" originated from a reduplicated form of the word "lua" (two).
Tagalog (Filipino)labindalawa
The Tagalog word "labindalawa" is derived from the Malay word "duabelas", which means "two over ten".

Twelve in American Indigenous Languages

Aymaratunka paya
Guaranipakõi

Twelve in International Languages

Esperantodek du
The Esperanto word "dek du" is also a homophone of the phrase "deka dudeko", meaning "two and a half decades".
Latinduodecim
"Duodecim" originates from the Proto-Italic word "*d(w)odekm" (or similar), meaning "two ten".

Twelve in Others Languages

Greekδώδεκα
The word "δώδεκα" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "dwei-dekṃ" meaning "two tens".
Hmongkaum ob
"Ob" is derived from "oib," referring to an old counting system where numbers 11 and 12 were counted as 10 plus 1 and 10 plus 2, respectively.
Kurdishduwanzdeh
The Kurdish word "duwanzdeh" is cognate with the Persian "dovāzdah" and ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *dwo-dekṃ, meaning "two tens".
Turkishon iki
"On iki" (twelve) means ten plus two.}
Xhosashumi elinambini
'Shumi elinambini', also called the 'thumb', refers to the counting system involving counting on both hands before using one hand as reference, which gives rise to twelve fingers in total.
Yiddishצוועלף
The Yiddish word "צוועלף" (tzwelf) derives from the Middle High German "zwelef".
Zuluishumi nambili
The word "ishumi nambili" in Zulu is derived from "ishumi" (ten) and "nambi" (two), and also means "a dozen".
Assameseবাৰ
Aymaratunka paya
Bhojpuriबारह
Dhivehiބާރަ
Dogriबारां
Filipino (Tagalog)labindalawa
Guaranipakõi
Ilocanodose
Kriotwɛlv
Kurdish (Sorani)دوازدە
Maithiliबारह
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯇꯔꯥꯅꯤꯊꯣꯏ
Mizosawmpahnih
Oromokudha lama
Odia (Oriya)ବାର
Quechuachunka iskayniyuq
Sanskritद्विदशकं
Tatarунике
Tigrinyaዓሰርተ ክልተ
Tsongakhumembirhi

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