Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve... they're unique names. Then comes thirten, fourten.

Ten, eleven and twelve are unique names and probably have their entymology derived from a base-12 numbering system once primarily used in Anglo-speaking countries.




It's simple enough to Google "etymology eleven" to see that it is a base 10 word.

Modern proponents of a dozenal system seem to prefer the words "el" and "doz" for eleven and twelve. I would totally be in for changing, but realistically it'll never happen.

Numberphile on the dozenal system: https://youtu.be/U6xJfP7-HCc


“Twelve” is suspiciously similar to “two” however, which makes me wonder about its origin.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: