| 释义 |
twelve, numeral a. and n.|twɛlv|
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. *twaliƀi-, f. twa two + liƀ- or lif-, of uncertain origin, but generally considered to belong to the same root as OTeut. *liƀan 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. vênů′lika 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 n. 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.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §10 Ðe..on twelf monðum ᵹewexð. 971Blickl. Hom. 15 Hælend ᵹenam his twelf þeᵹnas. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. x. 5 Ðas twelf se hælynd sende. c1020Rule St. Benet (Logeman) 40 Þæt ne siᵹ læs twelf sealma. c1175Lamb. Hom. 141 Þa fouwer [walmes] weren ideled a twelue, for þa twelf kunreden sculden þer mide heore þurst kelen. c1200Ormin 8900 Off twellf winnterr elde. c1205Lay. 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. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8232 Twolf ȝer old. 1375Barbour Bruce x. 547 A schort leddir..I trow of tuelf fut. c1470Golagros & Gaw. 411 Tuelf crovnit kingis. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 3 The twelf Articklis of our Faith. 1588A. King tr. 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.
a900Fate Apostles 4 Twelfe wæron dædum domfæste. c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. x. 5 Ðas tuelfe [Rushw. twælfe] sende ðe hælend. c1200Ormin 956, & off þa twellfe namess ec Þatt wærenn don þæronne. a1400–50Alexander 1079 Fyftene Burghes, And..xij grym waters [Dubl. MS. twelfe gret waters]. 1483Cath. Angl. 398/2 Twelfe, duodecim. Ibid., Twelfe ȝere space. 1552Huloet, Twelfe together, duodeni. 1603Owen 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.
c1175Twelue [see α]. c1250Gen. & Ex. 663 Twelwe and sexti men. c1275Passion our Lord 42 in O.E. Misc. 38 He ches hym twolue yuere myd him vor to lede. c1275Twelue [see quot. c 1205 in α]. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 401 Whanne Alisaundre was twelve ȝere olde. c1440Promp. Parv. 504/2 Twelwe, duodecim. 1535Coverd. Matt. xix. 28 Ye..shal syt also vpon twolue seates. 1607Shakes. Cor. iv. v. 128 Thou hast beate mee out Twelue seuerall times.
(δ) 4 tuel, 4–7 twel; Sc. 6 twoll, 6–7 twell, 6–9 twall, 7 tuel(l, 8–9 twal.
c1400Trevisa's Higden (Rolls) III. 23 He regned in al twelve [MS. γ twel] ȝere. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxviii. 1 Betuix twell houris and ellevin. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. ii. 3 The somme off our faith..quhilk ye twoll apostlis compylit..callit the creid, quhilk yai..dewyddit in twoll articlis. 1599in Maitl. Cl. Misc. III. 341 The space of twell dayis. 1639Ld. Wariston Diary (S.H.S.) 329 At tuel hours. 1785Twal [see B. I. 2 b]. 1837R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 106 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. a. In concord with a n. expressed.
(a) Preceding the n.
Beowulf (Z.) 147, .xii. wintra tid. 971[see A. α]. c1050Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 298 On þisum daᵹum beoð ᵹesette twelf monðas. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 431 Þis folc..departede hor ost in tuelf [v.rr. twolf, twelue] parties. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13534 Þey were..set In twolue batailles. 1420–2Lydg. Siege Thebes 3540 I-braunched out vpon twelue trees. 1526Tindale Acts vii. 8 And Isaac begat Iacob, and Iacob the twelve patriarkes. 1584D. Powel Lloyd's Cambria 53 He choose out of that companie..twelue men. 1638Brome Antipodes iii. ii, Twelve Hymnes, For the twelve Sessions. 1750tr. Leonardus's Mirr. Stones 80 There are twelve species of it. a1774Goldsm. Hist. Greece I. 30 At twelve years old the boys were removed into another class. 1847Grote Greece ii. xix. III. 390 The division of the day into twelve parts.
(b) Following the n. (Chiefly for rime.)
a1000Sal. & Sat. 15 (Gr.) Mine suna twelfe. a1300Cursor M. 174 (Cott.) Iesu crist him selue Ches til him apostels tuelue. Ibid. 29063 Crist..Spekand to his aposteles tueluen. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 59 (108) Herof ben þere maked bokes twelue. c1386― Prol. 527 But cristes lore, and hise Apostles twelue He taughte, but first he folwed it hym selue. 1390Gower Conf. I. 181 The Souldan hise hostages sende..of Princes Sones tuelve.
b. As multiplier before 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 n. 10 b).
c1205Lay. 25443 Twelf [c 1275 Twealf] þusend cnihtes. c1290S. Eng. Leg. l. 66/450 He deide tweolf hundred ȝer..Aftur ore louerdes burtyme. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10121 In tuelf hundred ȝer of grace & þe secunde ȝere. c1425Wyntoun Cron. viii. 2011 Twelf hundir nynti ȝhere and sewyn Fra Crist was borne. [c1470Henry Wallace vi. 107 Tuelff hundreth ȝeer, tharto nynte and sewyn.] 1552Huloet, Twelue hundreth thousande sestertia. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. ix. 28 Eleven or twelve thousand staves hardened in the fire. 1726Swift Gulliver ii. vii, A gallery of twelve hundred feet long.
a1300Cursor M. 2168 (Cott.) Ragan..[lived] Twelue scor o yeires. 1550–3Decaye of Eng. A v, Twelf score persons in Oxfordshire. 1569–1620 [see prick n. 10 b]. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 52 Hee would haue clapt in the Clowt at Twelue-score. a1700Dryden Theocritus, Epithal. Helen & Menelaus 39 Twelvescore viragos of the Spartan race. 1753Chambers 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 labours (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.
c975Rushw. Gosp. Matt. x. 2 Þara *twelf apostola noma [Ags. Gosp. naman] sindun þas. c1175Lamb. Hom. 75 Þet rihte ileue setten þe twelue apostles on write. 1377Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 25 He þat..con tellen of Tobie and þe Twelue Apostles. 1890Science-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.
[1600Nashe Summer's Last Will Wks. (Grosart) VI. 156 To feede the poore twelue dayes, & let them starue all the yeare after.] 1693Sir T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 132 Tobacco. In the *Twelve-Days they begin to Sow their Seed. 1725H. Bourne Antiq. Vulg. xvii. (heading), The Wickedness of observing the Twelve Days after the common Way.
a1577Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. (1633) 110 They which either condemne or acquite the man..are not called Judges but the *twelve men. 1607Henley-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. 1608in N. & Q. 8th Ser. XI. 201/1 Paines laid at the great courte at Sheffelde..by the twelue men of the sooke of Ecclesfelde. 1672Cowell's Interpr., Twelve Men,..otherwise called the Jury or Enquest, is a number of twelve persons [etc.]. 1744in 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]. 1886Johns 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.
1390Gower Conf. III. 108 Ther ben *signes tuelve, Whiche have her cercles be hemselve Compassed in the zodiaque. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxii. (Percy Soc.) 105 In the xii. signes them selfe to domify. a1585Montgomerie Flyting 421 Be the poles, and the planets, and the signes all twell.
c1000Ags. Man. Astron. in Pop. Treat. Sc. (1841) 7 Under ælc þæra *twelf tacna. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings xxiii. 5 Them that brent incense..to the Sonne, and the Mone, and the twolue tokens.
2. absol.
a. with ellipsis of n., preceded by a pronoun or demonstrative, or as predicate.
a900,c950[see A. β]. c1000[see A. α]. c1000Ags. Gosp. Mark xiv. 20 Þa sæde he him, An of eow twelfum me sylð. c1205Lay. 25275 Þas twælfe heore wai ferden. Ibid. 26206 For aȝan þine tweie Heo habbeoð twælue [c 1275 twalue]. 1382Wyclif Gen. xxxv. 22 The sones of Jacob weren twelue. ― 2 Sam. ii. 15 Twelue of the children of Dauid. 1535Coverdale Josh. xxi. 40 All the cities of the children of Merari..were twolue. 1646J. 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.
c1482J. Kay tr. Caoursin's Siege of Rhodes (1870) ⁋11 All the nyght frou twelfe the clocke unto v in the daye. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. i. 3 Fleance. The Moone is downe: I have not heard the Clock. Banq. And she goes downe at Twelve. 1638Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. 129 If a man should vow he would never eat till all the clocks in the city should strike twelve together. 1665in Extr. S.P. rel. Friends iii. (1912) 237 Betweene eleauen and twelue A clocke. 1709Prior Hans Carvel 33 She..was wak'd at Ten;..At Twelve She rose. 1785Burns Dr. Hornbook xxxi, Some wee, short hour ayont the twal. 1818Scott Rob Roy xxii, D'ye think I wad hae comed out at twal o'clock at night? 1832Tennyson Death Old Year v, The light burns low: 'Tis nearly twelve o'clock. 1847Emerson Eng. Traits xix. (1856) 310 Their best parts were slowly revealed;..they did not strike twelve the first time. 1862M. E. Braddon Lady Audley xxiii, The clock struck twelve. 1894J. 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).
1607Shakes. Cor. iv. v. 135 We would muster all From twelue, to seuentie. 1646J. Hall Horæ Vac. 75 Unlesse an inclination be very discoverable [in a child], it cannot be perceived till after Twelve. 1818Byron 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.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. John vi. 71 An of ðæm tuelfum. 1382Wyclif John xx. 24 Thomas, oon of the twelue..was not with hem. 1526Tindale Luke ix. 1 Then called he the xij. to gether, and gave them power and auctorite over all devyls. c1605Acc. 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. 1635Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 97 It was agreed by the twell of the parish of Pettingtone there should be a ceasment of sex penns a pound. 1843Macaulay Regillus xxxvii, Manlius, eldest of the Twelve Who kept the Golden Shield. 1882Farrar Early Chr. II. 484 St. John was the last survivor of the Twelve. 1898J. 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’. 1909Sir 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-even. Obs. (exc. after the n. in such expressions as page twelve, chapter twelve, etc.).
See also twelfth A. 1 γ; some of the quots. there may properly belong here.
1430–40Lydg. Bochas ix. xiv. (MS. Bodl. 263) 419/2 The twelue in noumbre Callid Pope Iohn. 1586W. 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. 1660H. Bloome Archit. B c, Within that twelve part. 1682Piers Descr. W. Meath (1770) 124 On Twelve Eve in Christmas.
II. n. (with plural twelves).
1. The abstract number.
c1425Craft of Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 9 Cast 6 to 6, & þere-of wil arise twelue. 1571Digges Pantom. i. xii, Multiplie the distance..by 12. 1875Todhunter 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.
1573Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 289 Amang Christis awin twelf..Ane tratour was. 1887Cornh. Mag. Mar. 258 A ‘twelve’ of Irish players [at Lacrosse]. 1898G. Meredith Odes Fr. Hist. 70 The rosed and starred Revolving Twelves [i.e. hours of the days and nights]. 1910Westm. 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 n. 5). b. A shoe, glove, etc. of size twelve (in quot. 1607 allusively).
1607Tourneur Rev. Trag. v. i, Courtiers haue feete a' th' nines and tongues a' th' twellues. 1652Proposals for regul. 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. 1855Browning Master Hugues vii, Your masterpiece, hard number twelve.
c. A flower-pot eleven inches in width, of which there were twelve in a cast.
1802, etc. [see sixteen n. 5]. 1852G. W. Johnson Cottage Gardeners' Dict. 392/2 Eleven-inch..[Old name] 12s.
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.
1804Capt. Maitland in Naval Chron. XI. 409 A Ship Privateer, carrying sixteen twelves and sixes. 1895Outing (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.)
1670in S. Lennard tr. Charron's Wisd. Advert. Bks., Ovid Metamorphosis, in Verse, by George Sandys, in twelves. 1675Clavel's Gen. Catal. Bks. 19 Divinity in large Twelves. Ibid. 30 Physick in small Twelves. 1683Moxon 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. 1766Public Advertiser 20 May, Saturday will be published..in two volumes in twelves,..the second edition of The Vicar of Wakefield. 1792Advt. Perry's New Fr. Eng. Dict., To be comprised in 750 Pages, in large Pocket Twelves. 1882J. 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.
1683Moxon 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. 1716M. Davies Athen. Brit. III. 9 In a very small twelves of 36 sides in Print, call'd, The Marrow of Prayer. 1786Cowper Gratitude 27 This moveable structure of shelves,..charged with octavos and twelves. 1809Byron Bards & Rev. viii, And Little's lyrics shine in hot-press'd twelves. c1888A. Lang Rowfant Books ii, ‘Dear, dumpy twelves’, to fill the nooks.
c. attrib.
1755Connoisseur 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. 1771Luckombe Hist. Printing 110 He printed a small twelves volume with the following title.
III. Combinations: a. with ns. 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, twelve-candle, twelve-feet, twelve-foot, twelve-head, twelve-hole, twelve-horse (-power), twelve-inch, twelve-mile, twelve-pint, twelve-pound, twelve-shilling, twelve-stone, twelve-thread. b. with ns. + -ed2, forming parasynthetic adjs. in sense ‘having or characterized by twelve of the things named’, as twelve-banded, twelve-footed, twelve-fruited, twelve-gated, twelve-legged, twelve-oared, twelve-rayed, twelve-sided, twelve-starred, twelve-stranded, twelve-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; n., 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-note, -tone attrib. Mus., of the technique of musical composition developed by Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951): using the twelve notes of the chromatic scale so that none is dominant, as opposed to basing composition on the seven notes of the diatonic scale; cf. note-row, -series s.v. note n.2 21, serial a. h, tone-row s.v. tone n. 11; hence twelve-toner, a composer employing the twelve-tone technique; twelve-point sphere, Geom., a sphere passing through twelve special points in connexion with a tetrahedron, analogous to the nine-point circle of a triangle; twelve-pounder, a cannon which discharges shot weighing twelve pounds; † twelve-tide = Twelfthtide (obs.); twelve-yearly a., occurring every twelve years.
1781Pennant Hist. Quad. II. 501 *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. 1892Greener Breech-Loader 132 The best all-round gun for sporting purposes is the 12-bore with 30-inch barrels.
1886Kipling Departm. Ditties (1888) 42 *Twelve-button gloves.
c1865Letheby in Circ. Sc. I. 124/2, 26,000 cubic feet of *twelve-candle gas.
1904Westm. Gaz. 15 Dec. 12/1 The Japanese material consists of a sharp strong warp of *twelve-cut yarn, with soft weft.
1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 759 Sent like the *twelve-divided concubine To inflame the tribes.
1884Pall Mall G. 8 Sept. 4/1 A..prelude in the key of A major, *twelve-eight time.
1792in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 267 A *twelve feet figure executed in..green Bronze. 1898Review of Rev. Feb. 178/2 A twelve-foot basswood Canadian Canoe.
1611Cotgr., Charrée,.. a little *twelue-footed water-worme, much hunted after by Trowtes.
1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. i. (1885) 34 Yon *twelve-fruited tree.
1911Ramsay in Expositor Mar. 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. 1894Outing (U.S.) XXIII. 393/2, I carried a twelve-gauge and Srû his nondescript weapon.
1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn li, Ishmael ben Phabi, High Priest of the Jews, on whose ephod has hung the *twelve-gemmed oracle.
1798Hull Advertiser 6 Oct. 2/1 Damaged St. Petersburg *Twelve-Head Flax. [1834McCulloch 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.
1765Museum Rust. IV. xxiii. 107 Cloth..made..of Narva *twelve-headed flax.
1903Westm. 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 a *twelve-horse-power Gladiator.
1791J. Learmont Poems 67 The Sun now frae the *twal hour point Had nearly skifftit twa hours yont. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 491 The twelve-hour wheel turns the minute index. 1909Westm. Gaz. 12 Aug. 6/3 The employers refuse to grant them the twelve-hour day.
1500–20Dunbar Poems xxviii. 1 Betuix *twell houris and ellevin. 1599in Spottisw. Miscell. (1845) II. 279 She furnished drink to him until twelve hours (at noon). 1637Rutherford Letters 14 Mar. (1664) cxvii. 224 Our moon-light is better then their twelve-hours-sun. 1844J. 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’? 1876S. R. Whitehead Daft Davie 189 She sat down and took her twal-hours (noon meal).
1611Cotgr. s.v. Royal, Pied Royal..the ordinarie *twelue-ynch foot. 1882Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 275 A 12-inch vein of high-grade ore was met in a cross-cut.
1839T. Mitchell Aristoph., Frogs 42 note, A laugh, such as the *twelve-labour demigod alone could give.
1656New Almanack (ed. 2) 7 That triple-headed and so consequently *twelve legged curre.
1896Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign xv. 116 A *twelve-mile ride next morning.
1928C. Gray Hist. Music vi. 96 A reaching out towards the chromatic or *twelve-note scale of to-day. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 16 Oct. 588/5 The most interesting letters are those in which Schoenberg speaks about his own work and his theory of composition. There is one to the Viennese composer Josef Hauer, in December, 1923, in which are discussed the rival claims of the two composers to have invented the twelve-note system. 1975Gramophone Jan. 1329/3 Moses is an uncompromisingly twelve-note composition.
1815Scott Guy M. xvi, I saw his boat..fly across the lake like a *twelve-oared barge. 1891Daily News 17 Nov. 3/7 The pulling race for 12-oared cutters.
1785Burns Address to Deil x, An' dawtit, *twal-pint Hawkie's gaen As yell's the Bill.
1670Eachard 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. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. Div. II. No. 2612 The average ranges obtained..with a 12-lb. shot.
1800Misc. Tr. in Asiat. Ann. Reg. 24/2 A lucky ball from a *twelve-pounder. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. III. ix. 425 The ‘Inflexible’..carried eighteen or twenty twelve-pounders and ten smaller guns.
1855Kingsley Glaucus (1878) 167 The *twelve-rayed sun-star (Solaster papposa) with his rich scarlet armour.
1811Regul. & Ord. Army 153 Good marketable Wheat, and well dressed through a *Twelve-Shilling seamed Cloth.
1831Brewster Optics xxx. (1838) 250 This mineral, which crystallises in six and *twelve-sided prisms [etc.]. 1876Ruskin St. Mark's Rest ii. §19 A twelve-sided figure.
1839Bailey Festus xix. (1848) 216 Like her who wears in Heaven the *twelve-starred crown.
1882F. 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].
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 433/2 Reef and head holes of large sails have grommets of *twelve thread line.
1557Tusser 100 Points Husb. xlv, While *twelue tide doe last. 1568–70Darrell Papers in H. Hall Soc. Eliz. Age (1886) App. ii. 242 Seven night at the lest after twelve-tide last.
[1923A. Schoenberg Let. 1 Dec. in Briefe (1958) 108 Mir handelt es sich ausgesprochen dabei um gar keine anderen Theorien, als um die Methoden der ‘Komposition mit 12 Tönen’, wie ich das—nach vielen Irrtümern und Abschweifungen—heute (hoffentlich endgültig) nenne.] 1926Mod. Music Mar.–Apr. 6 He (sc. Schoenberg), too, is convinced that no tone of the *twelve tone system should dominate and that the new structural elements should be sought in sequence of twelve tones. 1956Auden & Kallman Magic Flute (1957) 58 A Geist whose music was composed from Angst, at International Festivals enjoys An equal status with the Twelve-Tone Boys. 1980Times 4 Sept. 12/5 There was an almost missionary zeal in the Schoenberg circle to spread the Twelve-Tone gospel of the master.
1966N. Rorem Paris Diary ii. 215, I despair of *twelve-toners: they have lost the need for pleasure. 1977Y. Menuhin Unfinished Journey viii. 165 Bartók pours them [sc. chromatic sequences] out with a lavishness of invention which the twelve-toner, working away with his slide rule, will never know.
1911*Twelve-towered [see twelve-gated].
1906C. A. Sherring West. Tibet xiv. 283 Every twelfth year, when there is a..*twelve-yearly fair. |