duodécimo
/dwoˈdeθimo/
The English phrase "twelfth" is duodécimo in Spanish. Wiktionary also lists décimo segundo.
Meaning: ordinal form of twelve (adj)
Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA |
|---|---|
| duodécimo | /dwoˈdeθimo/ /dwoˈdesimo/ |
| décimo segundo | /ˌdeθimo seˈɡundo/ /ˌdesimo seˈɡundo/ |
The term is used to express the ordinal number for twelve. If you are referring to one of twelve equal parts of a whole, you should use the related noun doceavo.
Which one should you use?
duodécimo and décimo segundo are both valid ways to express the ordinal number twelfth. doceavo refers specifically to the fraction one-twelfth.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The form duodécimo must agree in gender with the noun it modifies, changing to duodécima for feminine nouns. It can also be pluralized as duodécimos to modify masculine plural nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/dwoˈdeθimo/
Did you know?
- The word segundo in décimo segundo comes from the Latin 'secundus' and is a relative of the Spanish verb seguir, meaning 'to follow'.
- While duodécimo is the formal ordinal, many Spanish speakers colloquially use the fractional doceavo to mean 'twelfth' in everyday speech, despite this being technically incorrect grammar.
- In Spanish, the ordinal duodécimo is far less common in spoken conversation than in English, as people often simply use the cardinal number doce for lists or rankings.
Examples in context
- Diciembre es el duodécimo mes del año.December is the twelfth month of the year.This sentence is useful for noting that December is the duodécimo month of the year.Tatoeba #10091854 by Seael, translation #10234032 by Seael
- Enero es el primer mes del año, abril el cuarto, noviembre el onceavo y diciembre el duodécimo.January is the first month of the year, April is the fourth, November is the eleventh, December is the twelfth.This sentence is useful for listing the months of the year and identifying December as the duodécimo month.Tatoeba #1750185 by marcelostockle, translation #1750141 by djtait
- Enero es el primer mes del año, abril es el cuarto, noviembre es el undécimo y diciembre es el duodécimo.January is the first month of the year, April is the fourth, November is the eleventh, and December is the twelfth.Tatoeba #1187497 by nancy, translation #1550218 by Zaghawa
- El duodécimo mes del año es diciembre.The twelfth month of the year is December.
- La decimosegunda página del libro.The twelfth page of the book.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucía and Alejandro are organizing a list of participants for a race.
- LucíaAlejandro, ¿quién llegó en el duodécimo lugar?Alejandro, who arrived in twelfth place?
- AlejandroCreo que fue el corredor de azul.I think it was the runner in blue.
- LucíaVoy a anotar el nombre en el duodécimo espacio.I am going to write the name in the twelfth space.
- AlejandroPerfecto, así la lista estará completa.Perfect, that way the list will be complete.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “twelfth” translations and entries duodécimo, décimo segundo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries décimo, segundo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
