Talk:Dozen
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[edit] "stórhundrað"
The Icelandic dictionary "Íslensk orðabók fyrir skóla og skrifstofur" mentions "stórhundrað". "stórhundrað" means 120. Regards Gangleri 21:49, 2004 Sep 26 (UTC)
[edit] Moved from article
Cannot agree with the Latin origination of the word. Really it is one of the oldest worlds in Hindo-European languagies, with the meaning "(full) right hand". One of the oldest method of counting is not by fingers, but by the fingers phalanges, using the thumb as a pointer. It allowed count rather big quantities (up to gross), using only two hands.
[edit] Removed possible copyvio
I removed the following paragraph:
- Dozen
- The word dozen is a contraction of the Latin Duodecim (two + ten). This root also appears in dodecagon (from duodecagon) and duodenum, the first part of the intestine that is about twelve inches long. Some math and language historians think that a dozen is one of the earliest primitive groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the moon in a cycle of the sun. It appears to be the basis of many larger values that were developed by many cultures. A shock was 60, or five dozen (a dozen for each finger on one hand) and many cultures had a "great hundred" [see hundred] of 120 or ten dozen (a dozen for each finger on both hands). The Romans used a fraction system based on 12 and the smallest part, an uncil became our word for an ounce. Charlemagne established a monetary system that had a base of twelve and twenty and the remnants persist in many places. In English money today 100 pence equals a Pound, but only a few short years ago a Pound was divided into 20 shillings of 12 pence each.
It may have been taken from http://www.pballew.net/arithme1.html (copyvio???).
Some of the material I have merged into the present article; some I have added to Duodecimal and 12 (number).--Niels Ø 13:38, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
thers no synonyms and antonyms 68.155.151.230 22:36, 2 November 2006 (UTC)Bob greoge
[edit] Baker's dozen
The description here of a baker's dozen being 12 plus one to taste is inconsistent with the wikipedia article on baker's dozen, which states that 13 were sold to avoid short measures in English medieval law. Not my place to determine either way, but there should be some consistency here. 212.248.246.18 13:18, 26 September 2007 (UTC)