Dozenfold

Part of speech: adjective, adverb

Definitions

1. Indicating a quantity or measurement that is twelve times as much
2. Describing something that is multiplied or increased by a factor of twelve
3. Referring to an extent or degree that is a multiple of twelve units

Etymology: Dozenfold is a plain compound: "dozen" plus the suffix "-fold," which comes from Old English "-feald" and means "times as many" or "multiplied by." "Dozen" itself came into English from Old French "dozaine," meaning a group of twelve, which in turn descends from Latin "duodecim," meaning twelve. The suffix "-fold" has been used this way since Old English, so "dozenfold" is simply a combination of two long-established parts. Words built with "-fold" follow the same pattern, such as "twofold," "tenfold," and "hundredfold," and they are most common in older or formal writing, where a multiplier is easier to state with a single adjective than with a phrase like "twelve times as great." The word appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, which records its use as both an adjective and an adverb, so it can describe a noun ("a dozenfold increase") or modify a verb ("the value grew dozenfold").