twelfth, a. and n.
(twɛlfθ)
Forms: see below.
[OE. twelfta, = OFris. twilifta, twel(e)fta (WFris. toalfte, -de), MDu. twal(e)fde, twael(e)fde, twel(e)fde (Du. twaalfde), OS. *twelifto (MLG. twelf-, twalf-, twolfde, LG. twölfte, etc.), OHG. zwelifto, -lefto (MHG. zwelfte, Ger. zwölfte), ON. tólfti, -te, (Norw. tolvte, dial. tolte, Sw. tolfte, Da. tolvte), Goth. *twalifta: f. OE. twelf twelve. In southern ME. (14th c.), twelft became twelfth, after fourth, etc., but twelft, twelt, twalt remain in various dialects: see -th2 and Note to tenth.]
A. adj.
1. The ordinal numeral corresponding to the cardinal twelve; last of twelve; that comes next after the eleventh. a. In concord with a n. expressed.
(α) 1 twelfta, 1–6 -te, 2–3 (Orm.) twellfte, 3 tweolfte, tuelfte, (4 tuelfd, -fed), 4 (Sc. –6) tuelft, 4–7 (9 dial.) twelft, (4–5 tuelfete), 6 Sc. tuelfet, tuelt, 6 Sc. (9 dial.) twelt, twalt.
| a 900 O.E. Martyrol. Dec. 216 On þam twelftan monðe. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 190 Mona se twelfta on eallum weorcum nytlic ys. c 1200 Ormin 11063 Þe twellfte daȝȝ. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8606 Þe tuelfte [v.r. (a 1400) tuelf] ȝer temese moni toun aseincte. a 1300 Cursor M. 22653 (Cott.) Þe twelft [v.rr. tuelft, twelþe] signe. c 1400 Rule St. Benet vii. 15 Saint benet spekis in þis sentence Of þe telfete [? tuelfete] maner o mekenes. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 306, I..my pen furth tuike, Syne thus begouth of Virgill the twelt buike. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) III. 16 The tuelt ȝeir..of his ring. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iii. xxix. (S.T.S.) I. 180 The twelfte ȝeir of his regne. Ibid. vi. xcii. 332 The tuelfet ȝeir of his rigne. 1621 N. Riding Rec. (1894) 87 The twelft day of February. |
(β) 4 twelfþe, tuelfthe, 5 twellifth, -yfth, 6 twelfyth, -veth, 6– twelfth, (9 twelvth); also 4 tweolthe, 4–5 twelþe, 5 twelthe, twolthe.
| 13.. K. Alis. 6403 On tweolthe nyght. c 1380 Twelþe [see b]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 145 Þe twelfþe [ed. Caxton twellyfth] ȝere he was i-made cathecuminus. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 4451 In þe twolthe ȝere of his regnynge. 1530 Palsgr. 372/1 Douziesme, twelfyth. 1564 Harding Answ. to Jewel's Challenge (1565) 180 b, The twelfth councell of Toledo. 1820 Chalmers Congregat. Serm. (1838) II. 189 The 31st verse of the 12{supt}{suph} chapter. 1830 W. Taylor Hist. Surv. Germ. Poetry II. 4 The twelvth section. 1884 Athenæum 10 May, A star of the twelfth magnitude. |
(γ) (Chiefly Sc.) 4–5 tuelf, 4–7 twelf, 5–7 twelfe, 7 twelff.
| c 1375 Twelf [see b]. a 1400 Tuelf [see quot. 1297 in α]. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1369/1 On the twelfe daie of Februarie. 1640 in P. H. Waddell Old Kirk Chron. (1893) 16 The twelff day of October. 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored 4 His twelfe chapter. |
b. With n. understood, usually from context; also spec. with ellipsis of day (of the month), or chapter (of a book of Scripture).
| a 1000 Andreas 665 (Gr.) He wæs twelfta sylf. c 1200 Ormin 11063 Itt iss þe þrittennde daȝȝ Fra ȝoldaȝȝ, nohht te twellfte. ? a 1300 Shires & Hundreds Eng. in O.E. Misc. 146 Þe teonþe on wirecestre, þe eollefte on hereforde, þe tweolfte on lycchesfeld..Her beoþ xv. bispryche. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Mathias) 355 Sa tuk þai hyme for þe twelf to be. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2846, Y me self was þe twelþe. 1558 Lydgate's Bochas ix. xiv. 26 The twelft [Bodl. MS. twelue] in nombre. 1562 Winȝet Last Blast Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 39 Sen the twelft of Marche. 1600 Abp. Abbot Exp. Jonah 176 In the twelfth of the Revelation. 1611 Bible 1 Kings xix. 19 Elisha..was plowing with twelue yoke of oxen before him, and hee with the twelfth. 1867 ‘Ouida’ Cecil Castlemaine's Gage, etc. 345 We soon made up..to the Norwich girls for the loss of the Twelfth [Lancers]. 1887 Bowen Virg. Eclogues viii. 39 Years I had finished eleven, the twelfth was beginning. |
c. ellipt. (a) The 12th of August, on which grouse-shooting legally begins.
| 1816 Scott Antiquary III. ix. 196 ‘I must be prepared for Lord Glenallan's moors on the twelfth, sir,’ said M'Intyre. ‘Ah, Hector! Thy great chasse, as the French call it.’ 1868 Field 8 Aug. 105/3 Many seasons have come and gone since the first Twelfth that I remember. 1895 Times (Weekly ed.) 16 Aug. 657/2 In Derbyshire the ‘Twelfth’ opened delightfully. |
(b) The 12th of July, celebrated by Protestants in Northern Ireland as the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (1 July (Old Style) 1690) at which William III defeated James II.
| 1896 M. Hamilton Across an Ulster Bog vi. 57 The greatest excitements of her life—next always to ‘the twelfth’—had been occasional Methodist or Plymouth Brethren meetings. 1936 Ann. Reg. 1935 115 The Orange celebrations of ‘The Twelfth’ were on a bigger scale than ever, but the atmosphere was highly charged, and in the evening there were serious riots. 1957 Belfast News-Letter 2 July 6 (heading) Record ‘Twelfth’ parades expected. 1978 D. Murphy Place Apart xiii. 269 The Twelfth festivities commemorate the victory at the Boyne. |
2. twelfth part, any one of twelve equal parts into which a whole may be divided.
| 1590 in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1595, 120/1 Reddendo 2 bollas 2 firlotas 2 peccas 2 mensuras vocatas twelf-pairtis farine avenatice. 1724 Swift Drapier's Lett. i. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 23 The twelfth part of a half-penny will do him no more service. 1878 J. Davidson Inverurie v. 184 The owners of Twelfth Parts had their lands divided..periodically by lot. |
† 3. twelfth whist, whist with only twelve cards in each hand. Obs.
| 1752 H. Walpole Let. to R. Nugent (in N. & Q. 9th Ser. IV. 538/2), Amusing my selfe..at a game of 12{supt}{suph} whist. |
4. twelfth man (Cricket), a twelfth player selected as reserve to the team of eleven.
| 1876 Haygarth's Scores VI. 20 Mr. E. Arkwright..was first choice out of the [Harrow] Eleven, or ‘twelfth man’ in 1858. 1928 J. Buchan Runagates Club vii. 195, I saw you play at Lord's. I was twelfth man for Harrow that year. 1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 26 There were just a couple of minutes to the off when the two twelfth men appeared on the field, the horses lined up as we gathered round the radio. |
B. n.
1. a. A twelfth part: see A. 2.
| 1557 Recorde Whetst. B ij b, Sesquiduodecima, 13 to 12..a twelueth more. 1696 Locke Lower. Interest (ed. 2) 136 Supposing..5s. or a Crown, were to weigh an Ounce..whereof one twelfth were Copper, and eleven twelfths Silver. 1712 J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 197 Five Twelfths of an Inch thick. 1792 A. Young Trav. France 537 No such thing was ever known in any part of France..as a tenth: it was always a twelfth, or a thirteenth, or even a twentieth of the produce. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 419 From a third to a twelfth of zinc is used. 1812 Woodhouse Astron. xxxv. 347 Expressed in twelvths of that diameter. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 20 Apr. 3/1 A decrease of a twelfth since 1894. |
b. spec. A twelfth part of rents or movables granted or levied by way of tax.
| 1884 Dowall Hist. Taxation I. iv. iv. 77 The use of grants of fractional parts of moveables was continued..in 1296 a twelfth and eighth..were granted. Ibid. 81 The grants made..were..in 1318 a twelfth from demesne. |
2. Mus. a. A note twelve diatonic degrees above or below a given note (both notes being counted); the octave of a fifth; hence (usually) the interval, or consonance, between two such notes. b. An organ-stop sounding a twelfth above the normal pitch.
| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 70 Those notes which are distant from them eight notes, as from a fift, a twelfe..from Gamvt to D la sol re is a twelfe. 1613 Organ Specif. Worcester Cathedral, The particulars of the great organ..1 twelfth of mettal. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 511 Note E, The chord formed with the twelfth and seventeenth major united with the principal sound. 1891 Prout Counterpoint (ed. 2) 74 The thirds above it now give the inversion in the twelfth. |
† 3. Short for Twelfth-day. (Cf. Twelfth-even.) Obs.
| 1472 Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 33, I have my pardon,..for comffort wheroffe I have been the marier thys Crystmesse,..be ffor Twelthe I come to my Lorde Archebysshope. |
C. Comb.: twelfth-century a., of or belonging to the century from 1101 to 1200.
| 1867 Furnivall in Percy Folio I. 403 A twelfth-century writer. |