Dozen 208154 218886965 2008-06-12T16:44:21Z Mondeskind 3007716 '''Dozen''' is another word for the [[number]] [[12 (number)|twelve]]. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the [[moon]] or [[month]]s in a cycle of the [[sun]] or [[year]]. The dozen is convenient because its [[multiple (mathematics)|multiple]]s and [[divisor]]s are convenient: 12 = [[2 (number)|2]] &times; 2 &times; [[3 (number)|3]], 3 &times; [[4 (number)|4]] = 2 &times; [[6 (number)|6]], [[60 (number)|60]] = 12 &times; [[5 (number)|5]], [[360 (number)|360]] = 12 &times; [[30 (number)|30]]. The use of twelve as a base number, known as the [[duodecimal]] system (also as ''dozenal''), probably originated in [[Mesopotamia]] (see also [[sexagesimal]]). Twelve dozen (12<sup>2</sup> = [[144 (number)|144]], the duodecimal 100) are known as a [[gross (unit)|gross]]; and twelve gross (12<sup>3</sup> = [[1728 (number)|1,728]], the duodecimal 1,000) are called a [[great gross]], a term most often used when shipping or buying items in bulk. A [[great hundred]], also known as a [[small gross]], is [[120 (number)|120]] or [[10 (number)|ten]] dozen (a dozen for each [[finger]] on both [[hand]]s). A [[baker's dozen]], also known as a [[long dozen]], is [[13 (number)|thirteen]]. The [[English language|English]] word ''dozen'' [http://www.bartleby.com/61/24/D0372400.html] [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/dozen] [http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/dozen?view=uk] comes from the old form of the [[French language|French]] word ''douzaine'', meaning "a group of twelve" (''"Assemblage de choses de même nature au nombre de douze"'' as defined in the eighth edition of the [[Dictionnaire de l'Académie française]]). This French word [http://www.patrimoine-de-france.org/mots/mots-acade-30-14691.html#mot-2] is a derivation from the [[cardinal number]] ''douze'' ("twelve", from [[Latin]] ''duodĕcim'') and the [[collective number|collective]] [[suffix]] ''-aine'' (from Latin ''-ēna''), a suffix also used to form other words with similar meanings such as ''quinzaine'' (a group of fifteen), ''vingtaine'' (a group of twenty), ''centaine'' (a group of one hundred), etc. These French words have synonymous [[cognate]]s in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''docena'' [http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=docena][http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=doce][http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=-ena], ''quincena'', ''veintena'', ''centena'', etc. English ''dozen'', French ''douzaine'' and Spanish ''docena'', are also used as indefinite [[quantifier]]s to mean "about twelve" or "many" (as in "a dozen times", "dozens of people"). Some historians believe that the [[base twelve]] was important because it counts things relating to the marks on the fingers on each hand aside the thumbs. Each finger except for the thumb is divided in three parts, four fingers makes twelve possibilities of counting, and two hands makes possible the accounting of twenty four objects. Using the decimal base for counting only allows ten possibilities with the both hands, one visual option for each finger. This method for accounting was introduced by the [[Babylonians]] and its still in use today. ==See also== * [[Duodecimal|Base twelve]] * [[12 (number)|Number 12]] * [[Baker's dozen]] * [[Decimal dozen]] [[Category:Numbers]] [[Category:Units of amount]] [[cs:Tucet]] [[da:Dusin]] [[de:Dutzend]] [[es:Docena]] [[lb:Dosen]] [[lt:Tuzinas]] [[hu:Tucat]] [[mk:Дузина]] [[nl:Dozijn]] [[ja:ダース]] [[no:Dusin]] [[pl:Tuzin]] [[pt:Dúzia]] [[ru:Дюжина]] [[simple:Dozen]] [[sl:Ducat]] [[fi:Kappalemitta]] [[sv:Dussin]] [[th:โหล]] [[tr:Düzine]] [[zh:打]] [[zh-yue:打 (數)]]