duodecade

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English

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Late Latin duodecas (twelve), from Ancient Greek δυωδεκάς (duōdekás, twelve). Equivalent to duodeca- +‎ -ade.

Noun

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duodecade (plural duodecades)

  1. A period of twelve years.
    Each Chinese New Year during a "Jupiter return"—when a duodecade has passed and the Chinese zodiac animal of your birth year comes back around—it is expected that you find some red underwear to put on for the special occasion.
    • 1880, The Popular Science Monthly, page 471:
      A second part is meadow-land, and every twelve years this is divided into as many parts as there are holders of village rights, and each one receives a share, of which he has the exclusive use until the redivision at the end of the duodecade.
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From duo- +‎ decade.

Noun

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duodecade (plural duodecades)

  1. (nonstandard) A period of two decades, a period of 20 years.
    • 1996, Mary Lindemann, Health & Healing in Eighteenth-century Germany, →ISBN:
      When I divide the past sixty years, 1706-65, into twenty-year periods, [I discover that] in the first duodecade, 702 people died, that is, an average of 35 a year. In the second period to 1745, 850, or 42i/$ each year, perished.
    • 1999, Reformation:
      McIntosh sampled four to six consecutive Leet Court sessions, usually covering two to three years, in each twenty-year span or 'duodecade' of her period. Her f1gures therefore provide a minimum number of communities involved ...

Latin

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Noun

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duōdecade

  1. ablative singular of duōdecas