Twelve

numeral a. and sb. Forms: see below. [Comm. Teutonic: OE. twelf, (also tuelf, and in Lindisf. gl. tuoelf), = OFris. twelef, twilif, twelf (OWFris. tolef, WFris. toalf); MDu. twalef, twaelf, twelef, twelf (Du. twaalf); OS. twelif, twilif, twulif (MLG. twelf, twolf, twalf, LG. twölf); OHG. zwelif, MHG. zwelif, zwelf, Ger. zwölf, ON. tólf, (Sw. tolf, Norw., Da. tolv), Goth. twalif:—OTeut. *twaliði-, f. twa two + lið- or lif-, of uncertain origin, but generally considered to belong to the same root as OTeut. *liðan to LEAVE (q.v.), and thus to denote ‘two left or remaining over (ten)’; cf. ELEVEN. Analogous formations to eleven and twelve are the Lith. vênůlika 11, dvýlika 12, in which the second element, Lith. -lika, has also the meaning of ‘left over.’ All other Indo-Eur. langs. have or had forms composed of ‘two’ + ‘ten,’ like the numbers 13 to 19; cf. L. duōdecim, Gr. δώδεκα, Skr. dwādaçan.

  As an adj. standing before a sb. OE. twelf was as a rule indeclinable; in other positions it was usually declined, nom.acc. twelfe, gen. twelfa, dat. & prep. twelfum, but exceptions on both sides are found in OE., esp. in Northumbrian, and in ME. twelfe, and at length twelve, became the form in all positions. Reduction to tuoel occurs once in Lindisf. Gl., and in ME. and mod. dialects twell, twall are frequent.]

  A.  Illustration of Forms.

  α.  1–7 twelf, (1–6 tuelf, 1 tuoelf) 2–3 tweolf, (Orm.) twellf, 3 tueolf, twælf, twealf, twalf, 3–4 twolf, 5 twellif, -yf, Sc. tuelff (6 twelef), 6–7 Sc. twelff.

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxiv. § 10. Ðe … on twelf monðum ʓewexð.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 15. Hælend ʓenam his twelf þeʓnas.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. x. 5. Ðas twelf se hælynd sende.

c. 1020.  Rule St. Benet (Logeman), 40. Þat ne siʓ læs twelf sealma.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 141. Þa fouwer [walmes] weren ideled a twelue, for þa twelf kunreden sculden þer mide heore þurst kelen.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 8900. Off twellf winnterr elde.

c. 1205.  Lay., 1617. His tueolf iferen [c. 1275 his twelue iueres]. Ibid., 25441. Þer comen þa twalf [c. 1275 twealf] iueren. Ibid., 25971. Twælf [c. 1275 twealf] swine.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 8232. Twolf ȝer old.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, X. 547. A schort leddir … I trow of tuelf fut.

c. 1470.  Golagros & Gaw., 411. Tuelf crovnit kingis.

1567.  Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.), 3. The twelf Articklis of our Faith.

1588.  A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., I. G vij. The cowrse of the moone, quhilk do change twelff tymes in the yere.

  β.  1 twelfe (tuelfe, etc.), 2–3 (Orm.) twellfe, 3–7 twelfe, 5 tuelfe.

a. 900.  Fate Apostles, 4. Twelfe wæron dædum domfæste.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. x. 5. Ðas tuelfe [Rushw. twælfe] sende ðe hælend.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 956. & off þa twellfe namess ec Þatt wærenn don þæronne.

a. 1400–50.  Alexander, 1079. Fyftene Burghes, And … xij grym waters [Dubl. MS. twelfe gret waters].

1483.  Cath. Angl., 398/2. Twelfe, duodecim. Ibid., Twelfe ȝere space.

1552.  Huloet, Twelfe together, duodeni.

1603.  Owen, Pembrokeshire, v. (1892), 42. Ten or twelfe yeeres of age.

  γ.  2–7 twelue, 3 twælue, twalue, 3–5 twelwe, 3–6 twolue, 4 tuelue (7 twellue), 4– twelve.

c. 1175.  Twelue [see α].

c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 663. Twelwe and sexti men.

c. 1275.  Passion our Lord, 42, in O. E. Misc., 38. He ches hym twolue yuere myd him vor to lede.

c. 1275.  Twelue [see quot. c. 1205 in α].

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), III. 401. Whanne Alisaundre was twelve ȝere olde.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 504/2. Twelwe, duodecim.

1535.  Coverdale, Matt. xix. 28. Ye … shal syt also vpon twolue seates.

1607.  Shaks., Cor., IV. v. 128. Thou hast beate mee out Twelue seuerall times.

  δ.  4 tuol, 4–7 twel; Sc. 6 twoll, 6–7 twell, 6–9 twall, 7 tuel(l, 8–9 twal.

c. 1400.  Trevisa’s Higden (Rolls), III. 23. He regned in al twelve [MS. γ twel] ȝere.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, xxviii. 1. Betuix twell houris and ellevin.

1588.  A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., II. 3. The somme off our faith … quhilk ye twoll apostlis compylit … callit the creid, quhilk yai dewyddit in twoll articlis.

1599.  in Maitl. Cl. Misc., III. 341. The space of twell dayis.

1639.  Ld. Wariston, Diary (S.H.S.), 329. At tuel hours.

1785.  Twal [see B. I. 2 b].

1837.  R. Nicoll, Poems (1843), 105. Twal corporation feasts within the year.

  B.  Signification.

  The cardinal number composed of ten and two; represented by the symbols 12 or XII.

  I.  adj. 1. In concord with a sb. expressed.

  (a)  Preceding the sb.

Beowulf (Z.), 147. .xii. wintra tid.

971.  [see A. α].

c. 1050.  Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia (1885), VIII. 298. On þisum daʓum beoð ʓesette twelf monðas.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 431. Þis folc … departede hor ost in tuelf [v.rr. twolf, twelue] parties.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 13534. Þey were … set In twolue batailles.

1420–2.  Lydg., Siege Thebes, 3540. I-braunched out vpon twelue trees.

1526.  Tindale, Acts vii. 8. And Isaac begat Iacob, and Iacob the twelve patriarkes.

1584.  Powel, Lloyd’s Cambria, 53. He choose out of that companie … twelue men.

1638.  Brome, Antipodes, III. ii. Twelve Hymnes, For the twelve Sessions.

1750.  trans. Leonardus’s Mirr. Stones, 80. There are twelve species of it.

a. 1774.  Goldsm., Hist. Greece, I. 30. At twelve years old the boys were removed into another class.

1847.  Grote, Greece, II. xix. III. 390. The division of the day into twelve parts.

  (b)  Following the sb. (Chiefly for rhyme.)

a. 1000.  Sal. & Sat., 15 (Gr.). Mine suna twelfe.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 174 (Cott.). Iesu crist him selue Ches til him apostels tuelue. Ibid., 29063. Crist … Spekand to his aposteles tueluen.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, II. 59 (108). Herof ben þere maked bokes twelue. Ibid. (c. 1386), Prol., 527. But cristes lore, and hise Apostles twelue He taughte, but first he folwed it hym selue.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 181. The Souldan hise hostages sende … of Princes Sones tuelve.

  b.  As multiplier before a a higher numeral (hundred, thousand, etc.). Twelve score, twelve twenties, two hundred and forty; † also ellipt. for twelve score yards, a common range for a shot in archery; hence attrib. in twelve score prick (see PRICK sb. 10 b).

c. 1205.  Lay., 25443. Twelf [c. 1275 Twealf] þusend cnihtes.

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I. 66/450. He deide tweolf hundred ȝer … Aftur ore louerdes burtyme.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 10121. In tuelf hundred ȝer of grace & þe secunde ȝere.

c. 1425.  Wyntoun, Cron., VIII. 2011. Twelf hundir nynti ȝhere and sewyn Fra Crist was borne.

[c. 1470.  Henry, Wallace, VI. 107. Tuelff hundreth ȝeer, tharto nynte and sewyn.]

1552.  Huloet, Twelue hundreth thousande sestertia.

1653.  H. Cogan, trans. Pinto’s Trav., ix. 28. Eleven or twelve thousand staves hardened in the fire.

1726.  Swift, Gulliver, II. vii. A gallery of twelve hundred feet long.

  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 2168 (Cott.). Ragan … [lived] Twelue scor o yeires.

1550–3.  Decaye of Eng., A v. Twelf score persons in Oxfordshire.

1569–1620.  [see PRICK sb. 10 b].

1597.  Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., III. ii. 52. Hee would haue clapt in the Clowt at Twelue-score.

a. 1700.  Dryden, Theocritus, Epithal. Helen & Menelaus, 39. Twelvescore viragos of the Spartan race.

1753.  Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v. Coursing, When a hare is put up,… let her run twelve-score yards or thereabouts, before the greyhounds are slip’d at her.

  c.  In special collocations, as the twelve APOSTLES, twelve labors (of HERCULES, q.v.), twelve SIGNS (of the zodiac, also † TOKENS), Twelve TABLES, twelve TRIBES (of Israel): see these words; also † the twelve days, i.e., those immediately following Christmas (cf. TWELFTH-DAY); † the twelve men, a body of twelve men having some special function, as a jury, a select vestry, etc.

c. 975.  Rushw. Gosp., Math. x. 2. Þara *twelf apostola noma [Ags. Gosp. naman] sindun þas.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 75. Þet rihte ileue setten þe twelue apostles on write.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., A. XI. 25. He þat … con tellen of Tobie and þe Twelue Apostles.

1890.  Science-Gossip, XXVI. 10/2. Among the most curious birds of Queensland are those known familiarly as the ‘Twelve Apostles,’ from the circumstance that they are always seen in flocks of exactly twelve.

[1600.  Nashe, Summer’s Last Will, Wks. (Grosart), VI. 156. io feede the poore *twelue dayes, & let them starue all the yeare after.]

1693.  Sir T. P. Blount, Nat. Hist., 132. Tobacco. In the Twelve-Days they begin to Sow their Seed.

1725.  H. Bourne, Antiq. Vulg., xvii. (heading), The Wickedness of observing the Twelve Days after the common Way.

a. 1577.  Sir T. Smith, Commw. Eng. (1633), 110. They which either condemne or acquite the man … are not called Judges but the *twelve men.

1607.  Henley-in-Arden Rolls (MS.), 22 Oct. Henleye. Agreementes & paines bie the Tweluemenne as followeth made at the Couurte holden ther the 22 daye of october.

1608.  in N. & Q., 8th Ser. XI. 201/1. Paines laid at the great courte at Sheffelde … by the twelue men of the sooke of Ecclesfelde.

1672.  Cowell’s Interpr., Twelve Men,… otherwise called the Jury or Enquest, is a number of twelve persons [etc.].

1744.  in J. Hammond, Cornw. Parish (1897), vi. 80. [It was resolved] that every Principall Inhabitant … under the denomination of a twelve-man shall be an acting Manager and Trustee [of the Workhouse].

1886.  Johns Hopkins Univ. Stud., Ser. IV. I. 55. The patentees are said to have been called the ‘Twelve Men’ or Duzine, and to have had both legislative and judicial powers in town affairs.

1390.  Gower, Conf., III. 108. Ther ben *signes tuelve, Whiche have her cercles be hemselve Compassed in the zodiaque.

1509.  Hawes, Past. Pleas., XXII. (Percy Soc.), 105. In the xii. signes them selfe to domify.

a. 1585.  Montgomerie, Flyting, 421. Be the poles, and the planets, and the signes all twell.

c. 1000.  Ags. Man. Astron., in Pop. Treat. Sc. (1841), 7. Under ælc þæra *twelf tacna.

1535.  Coverdale, 2 Kings xxiii. 5. Them that brent incense … to the Sonne, and the Mone, and the twolue tokens.

  2.  absol. with ellipsis of sb., preceded by a pronoun or demonstrative, or as predicate.

a. 900, c. 950.  [see A. β].

c. 1000.  [see A. α].

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Mark xiv. 20. Þa sæde he him, An of eow twelfum me sylð.

c. 1205.  Lay., 25275. Þas twælfe heore wai ferden. Ibid., 26206. For aȝan þine tweie Heo habbeoð twælue [c. 1275 twalue].

1382.  Wyclif, Gen. xxxv. 22. The sones of Jacob weren twelue. Ibid., 2 Sam. ii. 15. Twelue of the children of Dauid.

1535.  Coverdale, Josh. xxi. 40. All the cities of the children of Merari … were twolue.

1646.  J. Benbrigge, Vsura Accom., 5. A Banke of Recovery … herein Twelve were given for the use of an Hundred per annum.

  spec. b. with ellipsis of hours (of the day: cf. twelve hours in III. c.); also twelve o’clock.

  To strike twelve the first time (or all at once), fig. to display all one’s capacities in one’s first performance.

c. 1482.  J. Kay, trans. Caoursin’s Siege of Rhodes (1870), ¶ 11. All the nyght frou twelfe the clocke unto v in the daye.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., II. i. 3. Fleance. The Moone is downe: I have not heard the Clock. Banq. And she goes downe at Twelve.

1638.  Sanderson, Serm. (1681), II. 129. If a man should vow he would never eat till all the clocks in the city should strike twelve together.

1665.  in Extr. S. P. rel. Friends, III. (1912), 237. Betweene eleauen and twelue A clocke.

1709.  Prior, Hans Carvel, 33. She … was wak’d at Ten;… At Twelve She rose.

1785.  Burns, Dr. Hornbook, xxxi. Some wee, short hour ayont the twal.

1818.  Scott, Rob Roy, xxii. D’ye think I wad hae comed out at twal o’clock at night?

1832.  Tennyson, Death Old Year, v. The light burns low: ’Tis nearly twelve o’clock.

1847.  Emerson, Eng. Traits, xix. (1856), 310. Their best parts were slowly revealed;… they did not strike twelve the first time.

1862.  Miss Braddon, Lady Audley, xxiii. The clock struck twelve.

1894.  J. A. Noble, in Academy, 10 Feb., 119/3. There are some writers who, to use a homely colloquialism, strike twelve all at once: their first achievement … tells us all about them.

  c.  with ellipsis of years (of age).

1607.  Shaks., Cor., IV. v. 135. We would muster all From twelue, to seuentie.

1646.  J. Hall, Horæ Vac., 75. Unlesse an inclination be very discoverable [in a child], it cannot be perceived till after Twelve.

1818.  Byron, Juan, I. l. At twelve he was a … quiet boy.

  d.  The twelve (spec.): applied to various bodies of twelve men having some special office, as the twelve apostles, a select vestry consisting of twelve parishioners, etc.; also, the books of the twelve ‘minor prophets’ in the Old Testament.

c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., John vi. 71. An of ðæm tuelfum.

1383.  Wyclif, John xx. 24. Thomas, oon of the twelue … was not with hem.

1526.  Tindale, Luke ix. 1. Then called he the xij. to gether, and gave them power and auctorite over all devyls.

c. 1605.  Acc. Bk. W. Wray, in Antiquary, XXXII. 213. A great contention betwixt the xij as they tearmed theymselves and the commonaltie of Rippon about the election of the wakeman.

1635.  Vestry Bks. (Surtees), 97. It was agreed by the twell of the parish of Pettingtone there should be a ceasment of sex penns a pound.

1843.  Macaulay, Regillus, xxxvii. Manlius, eldest of the Twelve Who kept the Golden Shield.

1882.  Farrar, Early Chr., II. 484. St. John was the last survivor of the Twelve.

1898.  J. Robertson, Poetry & Relig. Ps. iii. 52. The Twelve minor prophets … perhaps the very first notice we have of them in history is a reference to them as a collection, known as ‘the twelve.’

1909.  Sir W. M. Ramsay, in Expositor, July, 14. The duties … discharged by the Twelve in the original congregation.

  3.  Used for the ordinal TWELFTH; in quot. 1682 Twelve eve = Twelfth-eve (TWELFTH C). Obs. (exc. after the sb. in such expressions as page twelve, chapter twelve, etc.).

  See also TWELFTH A. 1 γ; some of the quots. there may properly belong here.

1430–40.  Lydg., Bochas, IX. xiv. (MS. Bodl. 263), 419/2. The twelue in noumbre Callid Pope Iohn.

1586.  W. Webbe, Eng. Poetrie (Arb.), 62. Transpose anie of those feete … and make short either the two, foure, sixe, eight, tenne, twelue sillable, and it will … fall out very absurdly.

1660.  Bloome, Archit., B c. Within that twelve part.

1682.  Piers, Descr. W. Meath (1770), 124. On Twelve Eve in Christmas.

  II.  sb. (with plural twelves).

  1.  The abstract number.

c. 1425.  Craft of Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.), 9. Cast 6 to 6, & þere-of wil arise twelue.

1571.  Digges, Pantom., I. xii. Multiplie the distance … by 12.

1875.  Todhunter, Algebra (ed. 7), xxix. § 440. The number ten has only two divisors…, the number twelve has four…. On this account twelve would have been more convenient than ten as a radix.

Mod.  Five twelves make sixty.

  2.  A set or group of twelve persons or things; esp. a company of twelve players forming a ‘side’ at some game.

1573.  Satir. Poems Reform., xlii. 289. Amang Christis awin twelf … Ane tratour was.

1887.  Cornh. Mag., March, 258. A ‘twelve’ of Irish players [at Lacrosse].

1898.  G. Meredith, Odes Fr. Hist., 70. The rosed and starred Revolving Twelves [i.e., hours of the days and nights].

1910.  Westm. Gaz., 28 June, 12/2. Both the University twelves were playing last week.

  3.  a. A thing or person distinguished by the number twelve, usually as being the twelfth in a series; also number twelve (see NUMBER sb. 5). b. A shoe, glove, etc., of size twelve (in quot. 1607 allusively).

1607.  Tourneur, Rev. Trag., V. i. Courtiers haue feete a’ th’ nines and tongues a’ th’ twellues.

1652.  Proposals for regal. Law, in Harl. Misc., VI. 294. That there may be a distinction made between clerks of the children’s threes, and stagers of the long twelves.

1855.  Browning, Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha, vii. Your masterpiece, hard number twelve.

  4.  A thing characterized in some way by the number twelve; e.g., a twelve-pounder, or a twelve-bore, gun (see III.), a candle weighing twelve to the pound, etc.

1804.  Capt. Maitland, in Naval Chron., XI. 409. A Ship Privateer, carrying sixteen twelves and sixes.

1895.  Outing (U.S.), XXVII. 64/1. The opinion of sportsmen has changed during recent years, and twelves have steadily grown in favor.

  5.  (Only in pl.) a. A sheet of a book folded into twelve leaves (usually in phr. in twelves). (Cf. TWELVEMO.)

1670.  in S. Lennard, trans. Charron’s Wisd., Advert. Bks. Ovid Metamorphosis, in Verse, by George Sandys, in twelves.

1675.  Clavel’s Gen. Catal. Bks., 19. Divinity in large Twelves. Ibid., 30. Physick in small Twelves.

1683.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xxii. ¶ 4. If the Form be … Twelves, he sets also under the Fifth Page Signature 3, and under the Seventh Page Signature 4.

1766.  Public Advertiser, 20 May. Saturday will be published … in two volumes in twelves,… the second edition of The Vicar of Wakefield.

1792.  Advt. Perry’s New Fr. Eng. Dict. To be comprised in 750 Pages, in large Pocket Twelves.

1882.  J. Southward, Pract. Printing, xiii. 121. Twelves, or duodecimo, is a sheet folded into twelve leaves, making twenty-four pages. It is written 12 mo. Ibid., 124. Long Twelves is a twelvemo the pages of which read across the broad way.

  b.  transf. A book (or books) of which each sheet is folded into twelve leaves.

1683.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xxii. ¶ 7. There are four Volumns in use that are differently Imposed, viz. Folio, Quarto, Octavo and Twelves. Ibid. The other Volumns, viz. Sixteens, Twenty-fours, Thirty-two’s, are but the Octavo’s and Twelves doubled, or twice doubled.

1716.  M. Davies, Athen. Brit., III. 9. In a very small twelves of 36 sides in Print, call’d, The Marrow of Prayer.

1786.  Cowper, Gratitude, 27. This moveable structure of shelves,… charged with octavos and twelves.

1809.  Byron, Bards & Rev., viii. And Little’s lyrics shine in hot-press’d twelves.

c. 1888.  A. Lang, Rowfant Books, ii. ‘Dear, dumpy twelves,’ to fill the nooks.

  c.  attrib.

1755.  Connoisseur, No. 71, ¶ 6. Though contracted into the small space of a twelves volume. Ibid., No. 93, ¶ 10. The Twelves edition of the Connoisseur will be published on Tuesday the 25th of this instant November.

1771.  Luckombe, Hist. Printing, 110. He printed a small twelves volume with the following title.

  III.  Combinations:

  a.  with sbs. forming adjs. in sense ‘of, pertaining to, having, containing, measuring, weighing, costing, or in some way connected with, twelve of the things named,’ as twelve-button, -candle, -feet, -foot, -head, -hole, -horse (-power), -inch, -mile, -pint, -pound, -shilling, -stone, -thread. b. with sbs. + -ED², forming parasynthetic adjs. in sense ‘having or characterized by twelve of the things named,’ as twelve-banded, -footed, -fruited, -gated, -legged, -oared, -rayed, -sided, -starred, -stranded, -towered. c. Special Combs.: twelve-bore a. (of a gun), having a bore corresponding to the diameter of spherical bullets of twelve to the pound; sb., a twelve-bore gun; twelve-divided a., divided into twelve parts; twelve-eight (usually ¹²/₈), Mus., denoting a ‘time’ or rhythm with twelve quavers in a bar, distributed in threes, the bar thus containing four beats; twelve-gauge = twelve-bore; twelve-hour a., (a) Sc. (twal-hour) of or pertaining to twelve o’clock (noon); (b) turning once in twelve hours, as a wheel in a clock or watch; (c) consisting of twelve hours, as a working day; twelve hours (Sc.), twelve o’clock in the day, midday (also attrib.); a meal or refreshment taken at noon; twelve-point sphere, Geom., a sphere passing through twelve special points in connection with a tetrahedron, analogous to the nine-point circle of a triangle; twelve-pounder, a cannon that discharges shot weighing twelve pounds; † twelve-tide = TWELFTHTIDE (obs.); twelve-yearly a., occurring every twelve years.

1781.  Pennant, Hist. Quad., II. 50. *Twelve-banded A[rmadillo].

1859.  ‘Stonehenge,’ Shot-gun, 243. A good muzzle-loading gun of *twelve-bore, with a charge of … 1¹/₄ ounces of shot.

1892.  Greener, Breech-Loader, 132. The best all-round gun for sporting purposes is the 12-bore with 30-inch barrels.

1886.  Kipling, Departm. Ditties (1888), 42. *Twelve-button gloves.

c. 1865.  Letheby, in Circ. Sc., I. 124/2. 26,000 cubic feet of *twelve-candle gas.

1904.  Westm. Gaz., 15 Dec., 12/1. The Japanese material consists of a sharp strong warp of *twelve-cut yarn, with soft weft.

1864.  Tennyson, Aylmer’s F., 759. Sent like the *twelve-divided concubine To inflame the tribes.

1884.  Pall Mall G., 8 Sept., 4/1. A … prelude in the key of A major, *twelve-eight time.

1792.  in Picton, L’pool Munic. Rec. (1886), II. 267. A *twelve feet figure executed in … green Bronze.

1898.  Review of Rev., Feb., 178/2. A twelve-foot basswood Canadian Canoe.

1611.  Cotgr., Charrée,… a little *twelue-footed water-worme, much hunted after by Trowtes.

1872.  O. W. Holmes, Poet Breakf.-t., i. (1885), 34. Yon *twelve-fruited tree.

1911.  Ramsay, in Expositor, March, 224. The *twelve-gated celestial city with its twelve-towered gates.

1859.  ‘Stonehenge,’ Shot-gun, 173. A gun of *12 gauge carries a ball weighing the twelfth part of a pound avoirdupois.

1894.  Outing (U.S.), XXIII. 393/2. I carried a twelve-gauge and Srû bis nondescript weapon.

1891.  Farrar, Darkn. & Dawn, li. Ishmael ben Phabi, High Priest of the Jews, on whose ephod has hung the *twelve-gemmed oracle.

1798.  Hull Advertiser, 6 Oct., 2/1. Damaged St. Petersburg *Twelve-Head Flax.

1834.  McCulloch, Dict. Commerce, 581. [The Petersburgh and Narva flax … come to us in bundles of 12, 9, and 6 heads. Ibid.] Charges at Petersburgh on 12 Head Flax, per ton.

1765.  Museum Rust., IV. xxiii. 107. Cloth … made … of Narva *twelve-headed flax.

1903.  Westm. Gaz., 16 Jan., 2/1. The wall that used to be the confine of the old *twelve-hole green. Ibid., 16 May, 7/2. The car … was *twelve-horse-power Gladiator.

1791.  J. Learmont, Poems, 67. The Sun now frae the *twal hour point Had nearly skifftit twa hours yont.

1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 491. The twelve-hour wheel turns the minute index.

1909.  Westm. Gaz., 12 Aug., 6/3. The employers refuse to grant them the twelve-hour day.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, xxviii. 1. Betuix *twell houris and ellevin.

1599.  in Spottisw. Miscell. (1845), II. 279. She furnished drink to him until twelve hours (at noon).

1637.  Rutherford, Letters, 14 March (1664), cxvii. 224. Our moon-light is better then their twelve-hours-sun.

1844.  Jas. Ballantine, Miller of Deanhaugh, ii. 30. Was it to be expected … that such friends could meet … in the middle of a winter day, and separate without their ‘twal hours’?

1876.  S[arah] R. Whitehead, Daft Davie, 189. She sat down and took her twal-hours (noon meal) at a quiet bit of the road.

1611.  Cotgr., s.v. Royal, Pied Royal … the ordinarie *twelue-ynch foot.

1882.  Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S., 275. A 12-inch vein of high-grade ore was met in a cross-cut.

1839.  T. Mitchell, Aristoph., Frogs, 42, note. A laugh, such as the *twelve-labour demigod alone could give.

1656.  New Almanack (ed. 2), 7. That triple-headed and so consequently *twelve legged curre.

1896.  Baden-Powell, Matabele Campaign, xv. 116. A *twelve-mile ride next morning.

1815.  Scott, Guy M., xvi. I saw his boat … fly across the lake like a *twelve-oared barge.

1891.  Daily News, 17 Nov., 3/7. The pulling race for 12-oared cutters.

1785.  Burns, Address to Deil, x. An’ dawtit, *twal-pint Hawkie’s gaen As yell’s the Bill.

1670.  Eachard, Cont. Clergy, 107. The service … is read by some ten or *twelve-pound-man [who] has but just skil enough to reade the lessons with twice conning over.

1862.  Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. Div., II. No. 2612. The average ranges obtained … with a 12-lb. shot.

1800.  Misc. Tr., in Asiat. Ann. Reg., 24/2. A lucky ball from a *twelve-pounder.

1876.  Bancroft, Hist. U.S., III. ix. 425. The ‘Inflexible’ … carried eighteen or twenty twelve-pounders and ten smaller guns.

1855.  Kingsley, Glaucus (1878), 167. The *twelve-rayed sun-star (Solaster papposa) with his rich scarlet armour.

1811.  Regul. & Ord. Army, 153. Good marketable Wheat, and well dressed through a *Twelve-Shilling seamed Cloth.

1831.  Brewster, Optics, xxx. (1838), 250. This mineral, which crystallises in six and *twelve-sided prisms [etc.].

1842.  Capt. Denham, in Wilmington Chron., 28 Sept., 1/5. You have a six-angled dwelling-house [of the lighthouse] of twenty feet diameter, by nine feet high, in the centre of which rises the twelve-sided lantern.

1876.  Ruskin, St. Mark’s Rest, ii. § 19. A twelve-sided figure.

1839.  Bailey, Festus, xix. (1848), 216. Like her who wears in Heaven the *twelve-starred crown.

1882.  F. M. Crawford, Mr. Isaacs, ii. Able to carry a *twelve-stone man.

1890.  ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer (1891), 243. The properly-wielded *twelve-stranded intimidator [i.e., whip].

1797.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVII. 433/2. Reef and head holes of large sails have grommets of *twelve thread line.

1557.  Tusser, 100 Points Husb., xlv. While *twelue tide doe last.

1568–70.  Darrell Papers, in H. Hall, Soc. Eliz. Age (1886), App. ii. 242. Seven night at the lest after twelve-tide last.

1911.  *Twelve-towered [see twelve-gated].

1906.  C. A. Sherring, West. Tibet, xiv. 283. Every twelfth year, when there is a … *twelve-yearly fair.