Editing Dozen (section)

{{Short description|Group of twelve items}}
{{other uses}}

[[File:Box of Duck Donuts 1.jpg|thumb|A box of a dozen [[doughnut]]s]]

A '''dozen''' (commonly abbreviated '''doz''' or '''dz''') is a grouping of [[12 (number)|twelve]].

The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive [[integer]] groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the [[Moon]], or [[month]]s, in a cycle of the [[Sun]], or [[year]]. Twelve is [[Convenient number|convenient]] because it has a [[Highly composite number|maximal number of divisors]] among the numbers up to its double, a property only true of 1, 2, 6, 12, 60, 360, and 2520.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oeis.org/A072938|title=A072938 - OEIS|website=oeis.org}}</ref>

The use of twelve as a base number, known as the [[duodecimal]] system (also as ''dozenal''), originated in [[Mesopotamia]] (see also [[sexagesimal]]). Twelve dozen (12<sup>2</sup> = [[144 (number)|144]]) are known as a [[gross (unit)|gross]]; and twelve gross (12<sup>3</sup> = [[1728 (number)|1,728]], the duodecimal 1,000) are called a [[great gross]], a term most often used when shipping or buying items in bulk. A [[great hundred]], also known as a [[small gross]], is [[120 (number)|120]] or [[10 (number)|ten]] dozen.
Dozen may also be used to express a moderately large quantity as in "several dozen" (e.g., dozens of people came to the party).<ref>Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 2013, Procter, Paul 1408267667</ref>

Varying by country, some products are packaged or sold by the dozen, often foodstuff (a dozen eggs).