Dozen (doz)

US & ImperialCurrent unit

Twelve items. Eggs, rolls and many goods are still sold by the dozen.

1 dozen = 12 pieces (exactly).

About the dozen

Dozen entered English from Old French douzaine, a group of twelve, built from douze, which comes from Latin duodecim, plus a suffix that makes a collective. Twelve earned its popularity partly by dividing evenly: it splits into halves, thirds, quarters, and sixths, which helps when sharing goods. One suggestion is that the roughly dozen lunar months in a solar year made twelve one of the earliest groupings.

Even in a decimal age, dozens persist in commerce, often for foods such as eggs. Larger multiples extend the system by twelves: a gross is 12 dozen, or 144, and a great gross is 12 gross, or 1,728. The idiom six of one, half a dozen of the other uses the unit to say two options come to the same thing. Twelve also gave English the baker's dozen, which adds one more.

Sources: Wikipedia: Dozen

Dozen conversion chart

1 dozen expressed in every other counting & quantity unit:

More US & Imperial units

• half dozen (counting & quantity)
• gross (counting & quantity)
• great gross (counting & quantity)
• quire (counting & quantity)
• ream (counting & quantity)
• inch (length)
• foot (length)
• yard (length)
• mile (length)
• thou (length)
• league (length)
• furlong (length)
• chain (length)
• rod (length)
• link (length)
• hand (length)

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