Dozen

{{Short description|Group of twelve items}}
{{other uses}}

[[File:Box of Duck Donuts 1.jpg|thumb|A box of a dozen doughnuts]]

A '''dozen''' (commonly abbreviated '''doz''' or '''dz''') is a grouping of [[12 (number)|twelve]].

The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive integer groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the [[Moon]], or [[month]]s, in a cycle of the [[Sun]], or [[year]]. Twelve is convenient because it has a [[Highly composite number|maximal number of divisors]] among the numbers up to its double, a property only true of 1, 2, 6, 12, 60, 360, and 2520.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oeis.org/A072938|title=A072938 - OEIS|website=oeis.org}}</ref>

The use of twelve as a base number, known as the [[duodecimal]] system (also as ''dozenal''), originated in [[Mesopotamia]] (see also [[sexagesimal]]). Twelve dozen (12<sup>2</sup> = [[144 (number)|144]]) 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.
Dozen may also be used to express a moderately large quantity as in "several dozen" (e.g., dozens of people came to the party).<ref>Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 2013, Procter, Paul 1408267667</ref>

Varying by country, some products are packaged or sold by the dozen, often foodstuff (a dozen eggs).

==Etymology==
The [[English language|English]] word ''dozen'' comes from the old form ''douzaine'', a [[French language|French]] word meaning {{gloss|a group of twelve}} (''"Assemblage de choses de même nature au nombre de douze"'' (translation: ''A group of twelve things of the same nature''), as defined in the eighth edition of the {{lang|fr|[[Dictionnaire de l'Académie française]]}}).<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/24/D0372400.html |title=Bartleby |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210005528/http://www.bartleby.com/61/24/D0372400.html |archive-date=December 10, 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/dozen | title =Dozen | work = Free Dictionary | publisher = Merriam-Webster | access-date= 2011-10-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/dozen?view=uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926221221/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/dozen?view=uk |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 26, 2007 | work =Oxford Dictionaries Online |publisher=Ask Oxford |title=dozen |access-date=2013-01-31}}</ref> This French word<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.patrimoine-de-france.org/mots/mots-acade-30-14691.html#mot-2 | title =Douzain, Douzaine, Douze, Douze-huit, Douzième, Douzièmement, Dox(o)-, Doxographe, Doxologie, Doyen | publisher =Patrimoine de France | access-date =2011-10-28 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110929162634/http://www.patrimoine-de-france.org/mots/mots-acade-30-14691.html#mot-2 | archive-date =2011-09-29 | url-status =dead }}</ref> is a derivation from the [[cardinal number]] ''douze'' ({{gloss|twelve}}, from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|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'',<ref>{{cite web| url= http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=docena | publisher =Real Academia Española | work = Diccionario Usual | language= es| title = docena |access-date= 2011-10-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=doce |title= doce | publisher = Real Academia Española | work = Diccionario Usual | language= es| access-date = 2011-10-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=-ena | title = -ena | publisher = Real Academia Española | work = Diccionario Usual |language= es|access-date= 2011-10-28}}</ref> ''quincena'', ''veintena'', ''centena'', etc. English ''dozen'', French {{lang|fr|douzaine}}, Catalan ''dotzena'', Portuguese "dúzia", Persian dowjin "دوجین", Arabic {{lang|ar|درزن}} ({{transl|ar|durzen}}), Turkish "düzine", Hindi darjan "दर्जन", German {{lang|de|Dutzend}}, Dutch {{lang|nl|dozijn}}, Italian {{lang|it|dozzina}} and Polish ''tuzin'', are also used as indefinite [[Quantifier (linguistics)|quantifiers]] to mean {{gloss|about twelve}} or {{gloss|many}} (as in "a dozen times", "dozens of people").

A confusion may arise with the Anglo-Norman ''dizeyne'' (French ''dixaine'' or ''dizaine'') a tithing, or group of ten households<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Oxford | title = English Dictionary | contribution = meaning #4}}.</ref> — dating from the earlier English system of grouping households into tens and hundreds for the purposes of law, order and mutual surety (see [[Tithing]]). In some texts this 'dizeyne' may be rendered as 'dozen'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=William Lauriston Melville |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofpolicei00leewuoft |title=A History of Police in England |publisher=Methuen & Co |year=1901 |location=London |pages=121–122|isbn=9780875851198 }}</ref>

==Half a dozen==
[[File:Half Dozen Chargrilled Oysters.jpg|thumb|Half a dozen chargrilled oysters]]

The phrase "'''half a dozen'''" means six (6) of something, as 6 is half of 12. The [[idiom]] "six of one, half a dozen of the other" means two options are of equal worth so choosing one is the same as choosing the other.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kwan |first=Michael |date=2012-08-23 |title=Grammar 101: Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other » Beyond the Rhetoric |url=https://btr.michaelkwan.com/2012/08/23/grammar-101-six-of-one-half-a-dozen-of-the-other/ |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Beyond the Rhetoric |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Baker's dozen==
{{redirect|Baker's dozen}}

A '''baker's dozen''', '''devil's dozen''',<ref>{{citation|title=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary|contribution=devil's dozen|url= https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devil%27s%20dozen}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Concise Oxford English Dictionary: Luxury Edition |chapter= devil – phrases: the devil's dozen |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sYScAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA392|volume=12|page=392|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn = 9780199601110}}</ref> or '''long dozen''' is [[13 (number)|13]], one more than a standard dozen. The broadest use of ''baker's dozen'' today is simply a group of thirteen objects (often baked goods).<ref>{{citation|title=Webster's II New College Dictionary|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|isbn=0395962145|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/webstersiinewcol00unse|author=Webster|year=1999}}.</ref> The term has meant different things over the last few centuries.

In [[England]], when selling certain goods, bakers were obliged to sell goods by the dozen at a specific weight or quality (or a specific average weight). During this time, bakers who sold a dozen units that failed to meet this requirement could be penalized with a fine. Therefore, to avoid risking this penalty, some bakers included an extra unit to be sure the minimum weight was met, bringing the total to 13 units or what is now commonly known as a baker's dozen.<ref>{{citation|title=The Baker's Helper|publisher=Clissold Publishing Company|year=1921|volume=36|page=562|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbk2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA562|contribution=The Baker's Dozen}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/story/why-is-a-bakers-dozen-13 | title=Why Is a Baker's Dozen 13? | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=2022-11-30 | last=Eldridge | first=Alison }}</ref> The thirteenth piece of bread is called the [[vantage loaf]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable|publisher=Cassel and Co|year=2000|isbn=0304350966|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780304350964/page/1227 1227]|title-link=Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable}}</ref>

According to the [[Oxford English Dictionary]], the term "baker's dozen" originated in the late 16th century and is "apparently so called after the former practice among bakers of including a thirteenth loaf when selling a dozen to a retailer, the extra loaf representing the retailer's profit."<ref>{{citation|title=Oxford English Dictionary|year=2010|edition=3rd|isbn=9780191727665|last1=Stevenson|first1=Angus|publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref>

According to the 1811 ''Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'', by [[Francis Grose]], "a Baker's Dozen is Thirteen; that number of rolls being allowed to the purchaser of a dozen".<ref>{{citation|author=Francis Grose|author-link=Francis Grose|title=Classical Dictionary of the vulgar tongue|year= 2007|page=18|edition=unabridged|orig-year=1811}}.</ref> However, contrary to most sources, according to the anonymous 1785 version of that dictionary, which was probably also by Grose, "a Baker's Dozen is Fourteen, that number of rolls being allowed to the purchaser of a dozen".<ref>{{citation|author=Francis Grose|title=A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar tongue|year=1785|page=19|orig-year=1785}}.</ref>

The term has also been defined in a [[jocular]] way, as "twelve of today's and one of yesterday's."{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The term has also jokingly been described as "A dozen and the baker made one extra for himself."

A lesser-used regionalism is the Texas dozen, which generally consists of 15. This is typically used only in Texas and surrounding areas for such goods as flowers or baked goods, although can be applied to anything that is counted, such as photographs.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ci4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=what+is+%22texas+dozen%22&pg=PA60 | title=Texas Monthly | date=April 1980 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Lagniappe]]
*[[Fourteener (poetry)]]
*[[Dozens (game)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|baker's dozen}}

* [http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/Bakers%20dozen.html History of the term Baker's dozen] The Phrase Finder

[[Category:Integers]]
[[Category:Units of amount]]
[[Category:12 (number)]]