421:, 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. The thirteenth piece of bread is called the
364:
38:
443:, "a Baker's Dozen is Thirteen; that number of rolls being allowed to the purchaser of a dozen". 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".
456:
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.
432:, 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."
351:) a tithing, or group of ten households — dating from the earlier English system of grouping households into tens and hundreds for the purposes of law, order and mutual surety (see
183:
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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).
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today is simply a group of thirteen objects (often baked goods). The term has meant different things over the last few centuries.
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379:"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.
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The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive integer groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the
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598:"Douzain, Douzaine, Douze, Douze-huit, Douzième, Douzièmement, Dox(o)-, Doxographe, Doxologie, Doyen"
138:
Varying by country, some products are packaged or sold by the dozen, often foodstuff (a dozen eggs).
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The term has also jokingly been described as "A dozen and the baker made one extra for himself."
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among the numbers up to its double, a property only true of 1, 2, 6, 12, 60, 360, and 2520.
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742:"Grammar 101: Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other » Beyond the Rhetoric"
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Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English, 2013, Procter, Paul 1408267667
228:), a suffix also used to form other words with similar meanings such as
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240:(a group of one hundred), etc. These French words have synonymous
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119:, a term most often used when shipping or buying items in bulk. A
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36:
77:
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844:, vol. 36, Clissold Publishing Company, 1921, p. 562
73:
788:. Vol. 12. Oxford University Press. 2011. p. 392.
355:). In some texts this 'dizeyne' may be rendered as 'dozen'.
496:
174:"Assemblage de choses de même nature au nombre de douze"
410:, one more than a standard dozen. The broadest use of
375:" means six (6) of something, as 6 is half of 12. The
278:, Portuguese "dúzia", Persian dowjin "دوجین", Arabic
450:
way, as "twelve of today's and one of yesterday's."
387:"Baker's dozen" redirects here. For other uses, see
285:
810:
290:), Turkish "düzine", Hindi darjan "दर्जन", German
786:Concise Oxford English Dictionary: Luxury Edition
87:The use of twelve as a base number, known as the
719:. London: Methuen & Co. pp. 121–122.
336:(as in "a dozen times", "dozens of people").
303:
188:). This French word is a derivation from the
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339:A confusion may arise with the Anglo-Norman
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269:
181:
954:A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar tongue
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209:
180:), as defined in the eighth edition of the
178:A group of twelve things of the same nature
938:Classical Dictionary of the vulgar tongue
912:(3rd ed.), Oxford University Press,
437:Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
883:. London: Cassel and Co. 2000. pp.
713:Lee, William Lauriston Melville (1901).
80:. Twelve is convenient because it has a
880:Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
488:
600:. Patrimoine de France. Archived from
115:, the duodecimal 1,000) are called a
7:
782:"devil – phrases: the devil's dozen"
679:(in Spanish). Real Academia Española
654:(in Spanish). Real Academia Española
629:(in Spanish). Real Academia Española
446:The term has also been defined in a
184:Dictionnaire de l'Académie française
813:Webster's II New College Dictionary
280:
25:
986:History of the term Baker's dozen
940:(unabridged ed.), p. 18
367:Half a dozen chargrilled oysters
768:Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary
716:A History of Police in England
389:Baker's dozen (disambiguation)
312:, are also used as indefinite
1:
858:"Why Is a Baker's Dozen 13?"
817:, Houghton Mifflin Company,
740:Kwan, Michael (2012-08-23).
575:. Ask Oxford. Archived from
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573:Oxford Dictionaries Online
386:
82:maximal number of divisors
41:A box of a dozen doughnuts
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910:Oxford English Dictionary
908:Stevenson, Angus (2010),
860:. Encyclopædia Britannica
430:Oxford English Dictionary
111:; and twelve gross (12 =
154:comes from the old form
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435:According to the 1811
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232:(a group of fifteen),
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103:). Twelve dozen (12 =
49:(commonly abbreviated
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32:Dozen (disambiguation)
838:"The Baker's Dozen",
579:on September 26, 2007
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236:(a group of twenty),
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27:Group of twelve items
532:on December 10, 2006
72:, in a cycle of the
30:For other uses, see
746:Beyond the Rhetoric
472:Fourteener (poetry)
57:) is a grouping of
856:Eldridge, Alison.
841:The Baker's Helper
699:English Dictionary
369:
123:, also known as a
43:
988:The Phrase Finder
765:"devil's dozen",
677:Diccionario Usual
652:Diccionario Usual
627:Diccionario Usual
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107:) are known as a
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18:Decimal dozen
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602:the original
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423:vantage loaf
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373:half a dozen
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371:The phrase "
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359:Half a dozen
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321:about twelve
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1012:12 (number)
314:quantifiers
308:and Polish
125:small gross
117:great gross
101:sexagesimal
97:Mesopotamia
996:Categories
894:0304350966
864:2022-11-30
824:0395962145
751:2022-11-16
683:2011-10-28
658:2011-10-28
633:2011-10-28
608:2011-10-28
583:2013-01-31
554:2011-10-28
483:References
404:long dozen
302:, Italian
274:, Catalan
216:collective
214:) and the
99:(see also
89:duodecimal
936:(2007) ,
467:Lagniappe
268:, French
234:vingtaine
230:quinzaine
142:Etymology
1002:Integers
701:, Oxford
623:"docena"
525:Bartleby
501:oeis.org
461:See also
343:(French
316:to mean
296:, Dutch
271:douzaine
258:veintena
254:quincena
242:cognates
238:centaine
211:duodĕcim
156:douzaine
569:"dozen"
544:"Dozen"
448:jocular
419:England
353:Tithing
349:dizaine
345:dixaine
341:dizeyne
305:dozzina
293:Dutzend
276:dotzena
262:centena
246:Spanish
205:, from
148:English
93:dozenal
916:
891:
821:
792:
723:
673:"-ena"
648:"doce"
299:dozijn
287:durzen
250:docena
219:suffix
200:twelve
160:French
70:months
59:twelve
439:, by
402:, or
377:idiom
310:tuzin
266:dozen
222:-aine
207:Latin
193:douze
152:dozen
150:word
127:, is
113:1,728
109:gross
76:, or
68:, or
47:dozen
914:ISBN
889:ISBN
885:1227
819:ISBN
790:ISBN
721:ISBN
331:many
281:درزن
226:-ēna
158:, a
146:The
78:year
66:Moon
417:In
406:is
347:or
326:or
244:in
133:ten
131:or
129:120
105:144
74:Sun
53:or
51:doz
998::
887:.
784:.
744:.
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408:13
398:,
394:A
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248::
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55:dz
45:A
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