Have you ever wondered why the number 12 is referred to as ‘a dozen’? This seemingly odd designation has become a universal term for groups of twelve, but what’s the origin of this name?

In a memorable Saturday Night Live sketch titled “Washington’s Dream 2,” comedian Nate Bargatze portrays George Washington, who humorously imagines a future where America has a special word for the number 12. “We fight to control our own destiny, to create our own nation,” Washington declares, adding, “I dream that one day our great nation will have a word for the number 12. We shall call it ‘a dozen.’”

When asked what other numbers might have their own names, Bargatze’s Washington responds, “None. Only 12 shall have its own word because we are free men,” which gets a hearty laugh from the audience.

It's amusing, and a bit strange, that the English language has a unique term for a set of twelve items. But why is 12 called ‘a dozen’ in the first place?

The story behind the term ‘dozen’ isn't as thrilling as one might hope. There was no Daniel Dozen, obsessed with the number 12, who gave the term its name, nor does it have anything to do with the word ‘doze’ or sleepyheads. Instead, ‘dozen’ comes from the French word ‘dozeine,’ which itself is derived from the Latin ‘duodecim,’ meaning '12.'

The word ‘dozen’ has been part of the English language since at least the 1300s. However, before the modern spelling became common in the 1500s and 1600s, it appeared in many forms, such as ‘dosain,’ ‘doseyn,’ ‘dozein,’ ‘dosen,’ ‘dosyn,’ and ‘dossen.’ At one point, ‘dozen’ was even used to refer to an indefinite number, as in Alexander Pope's 1734 reference: ‘Dangers on Dangers! obstacles by dozens!’ In this case, it meant 'a lot of obstacles.' Meanwhile, ‘dozenth’ has been a synonym for ‘twelfth’ since the early 1700s.

Numerous expressions relate to the term ‘dozen,’ with the most famous being ‘baker’s dozen,’ which refers to 13 of something. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), this expression likely comes from the practice among bakers of giving an extra loaf when selling a dozen to a retailer, with the additional loaf representing the retailer's profit. Interestingly, ‘baker’s dozen’ didn’t always mean ‘13.’ For example, in 1855, ‘Notes & Queries’ stated: ‘The ‘baker’s dozen’ is not a phrase, but a fact of daily occurrence in the trade for the number fourteen, or more commonly thirteen.’

Other ‘dozen’-related phrases include ‘printer’s dozen’ and ‘long dozen,’ both of which also refer to 13. The phrase ‘to talk nineteen to the dozen’ means ‘to talk quickly or excessively.’ There is also ‘rump-steak and a dozen,’ explained in a 1893 example from the Westminster Gazette: ‘The stake being a ‘rump-steak and a dozen’... It was explained that it was a dinner and as much as you liked to drink.’ An old meaning of ‘dozen’ once referred to a town council, which typically had 12 members. So, people would say, ‘the local dozen had a dozen members.’