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You are here: Home / Language / How Did the Numbers Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen Get Their Names and Where Did They Come From?

How Did the Numbers Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen Get Their Names and Where Did They Come From?

February 28, 2020 by Karen Hill

The reason the nine numbers after ten are known as eleven, twelve, and the teens is clarified by looking at Roman numerals.

In other words, they are all plus or minus units of ten and were interpreted into archaic English with this in mind.

Eleven (XI) or “leave one” means ten is one less than eleven.

Twelve (XII) means ten is two less than twelve.

Thirteen is three plus ten (or “teen”), four plus ten is fourteen, and so on.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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