• duodecimal •
Pronunciation: du-ê:-de-sê-mêl, dyu-ê-de-sê-mêl • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: 1. Dozenal, based on or related to the number 12 or a 12-based numerical system as opposed to 10-based one. 2. Of or related to twelfths.
Notes: We use the duodecimal system in counting doughnuts, eggs, months, zodiac signs, feet (in inches), and the hours of a day. The duodecimal system has the advantage of being divisible by 2, 3, 4, or 6. The decimal system comes from the times when people counted on their fingers. Duodecimal comes with an adverb, duodecimally.
In Play: There are efforts under way to convert the European decimal system to a duodecimal one: "The Dozenal Societies of America and Great Britain promote the widespread adoption of the duodecimal system of counting." The European duodecimal system raised its inviting head in ancient Egypt: "Egyptian astronomers used the duodecimal counting system and divided day and night into 12 hours each."
Word History: Today's Good Word was created from Latin duodecim "twelve" + -al, a common adjective suffix. Duodecim is a compound numerical noun made up of duo "two" + decem "ten". Latin inherited duo from PIE dwo/dwe "two", variants of which we find in Sanskrit dvau, Greek duo, Albanian dy, Welsh dwy, Cornish dew, Russian and Serbian dva, Lithuanian du, and German zwei. Decem came from PIE dek'm- "ten", remnants of which we find in Sanskrit daśa, Greek deka, Armenian tasn, Welsh deg, Cornish and Breton dek, Polish dziesięć, Russian deset', Lithuanian dešimt, German zehn and English ten. Old French reduced Latin duodecim to doze (today douze), to which the French added -aine to make douzaine "dozen", whence English dozen. (Thank you, William Hupy, for bringing yet another stimulating Good Word to our attention.)
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