eleven

From Middle English elleven, enleven, eleven, from Old English endleofan; from Proto-Germanic *ainalif (“one left”) (i.e., one left over after having already counted to ten), a compound of *ainaz and *-lif, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“leave, remain”). Compare West Frisian alve, Low German ölven, Dutch elf, German elf, Icelandic ellefu, Danish and Norwegian elleve.

der

Arabic numerals (alternative)
Roman numerals (alternative)

It was a thunderstormy morning, eleven o'clock, with great dashes of rain pounding against the windows.

1973, Jane Roberts, The education of Oversoul Seven, page 8:

I know most girls say that they've known their bezzies since they started primary school together, bonding over handmade Mother's Day cards or a hatred of the egg-and-spoon race, but I've only known Taryn since I was eleven[…]

2011, Helen Bailey, Knowing Me, Knowing You:

It was also a work of fiction in which another work of fiction (Gulliver's Travels) was real; that Chinese box of an idea is wonderful to discover when you're eleven.

2014, Terry Pratchett, A Slip of the Keyboard, page 169:

The cardinal number occurring after ten and before twelve. Represented as 11 in Arabic digits.

elf

the cardinal number occurring after ten and before twelve


eleventh

From Middle English elleventhe, from elleven + -the, equivalent to eleven + -th. This re-formation replaced inherited forms such as endleft, ellefthe, from Old English endlefta, from Proto-Germanic *ainaliftô.

onze

abbreviation XI;after the name;in names of monarchs and popes


undecagon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-undecagon.wav

(geometry) A polygon with eleven sides and eleven angles.


hendecagon

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hendecagon.wav

(geometry) A polygon with eleven edges and eleven angles.


legs eleven

(bingo) A traditional call for the number eleven usually during the game Bingo.


hendecasyllabic

Borrowed from Latin hendecasyllabus, from Ancient Greek ἑνδεκασύλλαβος (hendekasúllabos), from ἕνδεκα (héndeka, “eleven”) + συλλαβή (sullabḗ, “syllable”).

ἑνδεκασύλλαβος


hendeca-

From Ancient Greek ἕνδεκα (héndeka, “eleven”).


eleventh hour

en-noun

eleventh hour (countable and uncountable, plural eleventh hours)

eleventh hours (plural)
eleventh-hour (alternative)
11th hour (alternative)

From a parable in the Bible of workmen hired at the eleventh hour (that is, late in the day), known as the Parable of the Workers of the Eleventh Hour or the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard:
* King James Bible, Matthew 20:6 & 20:9:
*: And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? … And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

If she repented, though at the eleventh hour, it was not too late.

1857, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 85, in The Virginians:

Highly providential was the appearance on the scene of Corny Kelleher when Stephen was blissfully unconscious but for that man in the gap turning up at the eleventh hour the finish might have been that he might have been a candidate for the accident ward […]

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

I have extricated myself so far at many eleventh hours and perhaps there is some hope in this.

1961, Philip Toynbee, Underdogs: Eighteen Victims of Society, page 56:

Egypt had managed to bring the two sides to the brink of a deal two weeks ago, before internal political dynamics prompted the Israelis to back out at the eleventh hour.

2009 March 3, Tony Karon, “Why Money Alone Will Not Fix Gaza”, in Time:

Thus, the famous title of the dictionary is, at base, derogatory. This explains why Yule kept the title secret until the eleventh hour, why some contemporary reviewers took exception to the title, and why Yule highlighted Burnell’s approval of the title.

2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 59:

(idiomatic) A point in time which is nearly too late; the last minute.

הַדַּקָה הַתִּשְׁעִים f (haddaqá hattish'ím, literally “the 90th minute”)


elevenses

elevenses (usually uncountable, plural elevenses)

From dialectal elevens (“the eleven-o'clock meal”).

The harvestmen who board in the farm-houses fare sumptuously during the month of harvest.— […] at eleven o'clock in the morning, and four in the afternoon, they have each a large light plum-bun, with a pint of ale a piece, carried into the field, to encourage them to work cheerfully. These extra refreshments they call, in their provincial language, their "elevenses" and "fourses." I could not at first imagine what the servants meant by talking of carrying the harvestmen their elevenses and fourses, till Mrs. Henley explained that it was a vulgar abbreviation of the four-o'clock and eleven o'clock meals.

1837 February, Anna Lee, “The Pinch of Salt”, in The Ladies’ Companion: A Monthly Magazine, Embracing Literature and the Arts, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: Published by William W. Snowdon, →OCLC, page 162, column 2:

"In Europe," said Ghosh Babu who read a great deal, "they all stop work at eleven to have tea or coffee or cocoa, or some stronger beverage; they call it elevenses." / […] ["]Ghosh Babu, how long time they get for elevenses?" / "About half-an-hour," replied Ghosh with authority. […] / "We get no time off for elevenses," complained Sambamurthy. "We should bring it up before the Clerks' Association."

1989, Khushwant Singh, “Man, How the Government of India Run!”, in The Collected Short Stories of Khushwant Singh, New Delhi: Ravi Dayal Publisher, →ISBN, page 96; republished as “Book Extract: They also Serve …”, in Sunday, volume 18, number 4, Calcutta: Ananda Bazar Patrika, 2 January – 2 February 1991, →OCLC, pages 75–76:

Even in these tough economic times when many employers seem hell-bent on sucking any and all vestiges of pleasure out of the daily existence of the average working stiff, some things remain sacrosanct. Chief among them is the partaking of elevenses. Even if we spend the majority of our lives glued to a desk, staring at a computer screen or in meetings pretending we care about the interpretation of a spreadsheet, the break for a hot drink and a little snackette between breakfast and lunch is a covenant between Britain and God.

2010, Simon Majumdar, “Elevenses”, in Eating for Britain: A Journey into the Heart (and Belly) of the Nation, London: John Murray, →ISBN:

Betjeman, who was a bit of a gricer, wrote: "I know of no greater pleasure for elevenses in London than to sit in this tea place and watch the trains arrive and depart."

2021 January 13, Christian Wolmar, “Read all about London's Cathedrals of Steam”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 63:

(British, informal) A short mid-morning break taken around eleven o'clock for a drink or light snack.


number eleven

(cricket) The batsman who bats last; usually the worst batsman in the side.


up to eleven

/ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/

/ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/

PIE word
 *óynos
The term refers to a scene in the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap (1984), in which the character Nigel Tufnel, the lead guitarist of the band Spinal Tap, shows the director of the documentary Marty DiBergi a guitar amplifier with setting knobs that go from zero to eleven, rather than the standard zero to ten.

She and River looked at me hard; but I lowered my eyes and leaned forward, with the nonchalance turned up to eleven, extinguished my cigarette, made eye-contact and nodded curtly.

1997, Matthew Branton, The Love Parade, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2002, →ISBN, page 71:

But if we try to fly, especially carrying Zealand, we're going to be puking our guts out by the time we get all the way up there. Flying is like motion sickness turned up to eleven, […]

2008 April, T. A. Pratt [pseudonym; Tim Pratt], chapter 15, in Poison Sleep, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Spectra, Bantam Dell, →ISBN, page 267:

Oh, Lady Ebb, I'm up to eleven today after that last biscuit.

2008, Robin Jones Gunn, chapter 14, in Sisterchicks Go Brit! (A Sisterchicks Book), Colorado Springs, Colo.: Multnomah Books, Random House, →ISBN, page 147:

It's the weekly half hour when the emotion is turned up to 11 but the atmosphere is so quietened that you can hear the dust clattering against the studio's lighting rig.

2010 May 22, Shane Hegarty, “Intimate details prove too close to the chat-show bone”, in The Irish Times, Dublin: Irish Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-04-22:

As we reach the city today, rush hour has been turned up to eleven, so there's plenty of waiting in traffic.

2013, Mark Mason, “In which We Waver over a Fry-up, Learn How a Stand at Liverpool FC’s Ground Got Its Name, and Experience Fear and Loathing in Bristol”, in Move Along, Please: Land’s End to John O’Groats by Bus, London: Random House Books, →ISBN, page 73:

[W]hen you look at conditions, it's not all happy days down there. Well, maybe it's happier now. But what our textbook said? Was that they had, you know, torture parties there. Once. Where torturers get drunk and turn the dial up to eleven.

2013 May, Charles Baxter, “Loyalty”, in Ellen Rosenbush, editor, Harper’s Magazine, volume 326, number 1956, New York, N.Y.: Harper’s Magazine Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 81, column 1:

It's not that London was unexciting. But I didn't understand it, felt lost. Its amp went up to eleven.

2014, Joseph O’Connor, chapter 9, in The Thrill of it All, London: Harvill Secker, →ISBN, page 154:

But because this is the internet, someone always has to pitch in and turn the hostility up to 11.

2015 April 18, Helen Lewis, “If only the sci-fi writers who hijacked the Hugo awards had the wit to imagine a world beyond the Good Old Days”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-09-10:

(idiomatic, informal, chiefly humorous) Up to or beyond the maximum possible threshold; to an extremely high or strong degree.

överiksi

(informal, chiefly humorous) up to or beyond the maximum possible threshold; to an extremely high or strong degree


eleven o'clock

Breakfast service ends at eleven o'clock (= "Breakfast service ends at 11:00 a.m.").

(In both the 12-hour clock and the 24-hour clock) The start of the twelfth hour of the day; 11:00 a.m. (11:00).

оди́ннадцать часо́в (odínnadcatʹ časóv, literally “eleven hours”)

одина́дцята годи́на f (odynádcjata hodýna, literally “eleventh hour”)

Supper service ends at eleven o'clock (= "Supper service ends at 11:00 p.m.").

(Only in the 12-hour clock) The start of the twenty-fourth hour of the day; 11:00 p.m. (23:00).

We've got a bogey at eleven o'clock.

(informal) A position ahead and slightly to the left (horizontal clock orientation) (from the location of the 11 mark on a clock face)


eleventy

From eleven + -ty, from Old English hundendleftiġ (also spelled hund-endleofantiġ, hund-endlyftiġ, and hund-ælleftiġ). See twelfty for more. Popularized in the 20th century by J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Compounds with other numerals: eleventy-one (111), eleventy-six (116), eleventy first (one-hundred and eleventh), etc.

[Bilbo] announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday
[…]
“Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today!”

1955 (1974), JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, pages 43, 54:

without having to go back through the thousand and eleventy-three days to alter the plan

1980, Janet Caudle, State and Interstate Fishery Jurisdiction: Problems and Progress : Proceedings of a Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, 1979 : October 29-31, 1979, page 149:

Eight-Oh-Two-Dot-Eleventy Something [= 802.11a, 802.11b, etc.]

2007, Doug Lowe, Networking for Dummies, page 174:


undecamer

(chemistry) An oligomer having eleven subunits.


eleventeen

Many giglets I have married seen / Ere they forsooth could reach eleventeen.


yan-a-dick

From Brythonic numerals. Literally yan a (and) dick.

(Cumbria) eleven in Cumbrian sheep counting


eleventhly

In the eleventh place; eleventh in a row.


elevenfold

From the 1810s to the 2000s, the frequency of “achievement” in written American English grew elevenfold, according to a search of the Corpus of Historical American English, a database of 107,000 newspapers, magazines, novels, plays and film scripts.

2010 October 29, Anand Giridharadas, “America and the ‘Fun’ Generation”, in The New York Times:

Sony’s shares are up more than elevenfold since 2012, profits have risen, and the company is still one of Japan’s largest, with about 110,000 employees and a market value around $108 billion.

2020 November 12, “How the PlayStation became Sony’s centerpiece product.”, in The New York Times:


hendecagonal

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hendecagonal.wav

(geometry) Having eleven sides and angles; similar to a hendecagon


banker's dozen

A play on the phrase baker's dozen; it is one less than a dozen as compared to one more. See also bankers' hours.

Not a low baker's dozen, you will perceive, but two high banker's dozen !

There were 11 in number (a reference has been made to them as constituting a banker's dozen), representing the following organizations :

1960, United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Small Business, Small Business Problems in Food Distribution:

It concludes with a banker's dozen of 11 items labeled "What to Read" — a well chosen list on the urban, technological disruption of man's life and the earth's biosphere.

1968, JOH, Journal of Housing - Volume 25, page 432:

Caroline arranged to have appear at her concert a banker's dozen (eleven) of New York's most admired amateur and professional musicians, including the alluring divorcee Fanny Ronalds, who — it was rumored — was accomplished in arts more erotic than the one she would demonstrate that night.

1981, David Black, The King of Fifth Avenue: the fortunes of August Belmont, page 240:

George counted eleven of them. A banker's dozen, he said to himself.


elevensies

* From dialectal elevens (“the eleven-o'clock meal”).
* In children's games: eleven + -sies

A call in any children's game, such as jacks, where eleven actions must be performed.


elevenpence

elevenpence (countable and uncountable, plural elevenpences)

Now the dealer was a young man, who did not know the ways of Castellybryn, and he was aware that the first dealer was a big buyer and a cunning bargainer; so he purchased the butter for elevenpence farthing a pound, being a farthing a pound above the market price of that day.

1915, Caradoc Evans, “A Heifer without Blemish”, in My People: Stories of the Peasantry of West Wales, New York: Boni & Liveright, published 1918, page 35:

(UK, obsolete) the value of eleven old pennies


onety-one

From one + -ty + one, modelled after twenty-two, thirty-three, etc.

I know when that was. One thousand one hundred and onety-one !

1899, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Wolves and the Lamb, page 11:


forty-leven

(US, informal) Very many; too many to count; quite a lot.


hendecahedron

hendecahedron (plural hendecahedrons or hendecahedra)

hendecahedrons (plural)
hendecahedra (plural)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hendecahedron.wav

(geometry) A polyhedron with eleven faces.


undecennial

undecennial festival

undecennial magnetic period

Occurring or observed every eleventh year.


undecimarticulate

Antennæ undecimarticulate, perfoliate.

1856, William Clark, transl., Handbook of Zoology, volume 1, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, translation of original by Jan van der Hoeven, page 341:


short dozen

For the sense "ten", compare the relationship of one "short hundred" (100) to one "long hundred" (120).
For the sense "eleven", contrast a "long dozen" (13).

Our short dozen of Aristophanic dramas may be taken to represent the fittest among the hundreds of other comedies which have perished.

1898, Aristophanes. I. The Acharnians. II. The knights. III. The clouds, page x:

Mrs. Van Slyke has chosen as her special field of interest the Syrian quarter of Brooklyn, and the result of her observations she has given us in a short dozen of stories, grouped under the title, Eve's Other Children.

1913, Mary Bannister Willard, The Survey: social, charitable, civic: a journal of constructive philanthropy, volume 30, page 147:

Written on the Wind is a terrifying book, at least for a reviewer, because it consists of a short dozen (eleven) of personal […]

1976, Jeremy Addis, Books Ireland, numbers 1-19, page 180:


Ekadashi

From Sanskrit एकादशी (ekādaśī, “eleventh day in a lunar fortnight”).

bor

(Hinduism) The eleventh day (tithi) of the lunar fortnight (paksha) of every lunar month in the Hindu calendar.


undecasyllabic

The subdivision forms octave stanzas of the Italian form, undecasyllabic triple measure, in feminine rhyme, of triple alternating lines, with a finishing couplet.

1886, Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft: History of Central America. 1886-1887, page 61:

(linguistics, poetry) Having eleven syllables.


up to 11

It's the weekly half hour when the emotion is turned up to 11 but the atmosphere is so quietened that you can hear the dust clattering against the studio's lighting rig.

2010 May 22, Shane Hegarty, “Intimate details prove too close to the chat-show bone”, in The Irish Times, Dublin: Irish Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-04-22:

All of our ring personas are elements of our real personalities, but turned up to 11.

2012 August 15, Chris Richards, “Blade is set to cut other wrestlers down to size”, in Brentwood Gazette:

But because this is the internet, someone always has to pitch in and turn the hostility up to 11.

2015 April 18, Helen Lewis, “If only the sci-fi writers who hijacked the Hugo awards had the wit to imagine a world beyond the Good Old Days”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-09-10:


Number Eleven

No 11 (alternative)
Number 11 (alternative)

11 Downing Street
11 Downing Street#English

(UK politics, colloquial) Synonym of 11 Downing Street


Number 11

No 11 (alternative)
Number Eleven (alternative)


yoleven

Coined to avoid confusion with seven in the loud casino environment.


undecimvirate

undecimvirates (plural)
undecemvirate (alternative)

From Latin ūndecimvirātus, from ūndecimvirī (“undecimvirs”) + -ātus (“-ate”).

(uncommon) A group of eleven people, especially (politics) a council of eleven men sharing office or power and particularly (historical) the groups of eleven magistrates in ancient Athens.


Next Eleven

(economics) Eleven countries – Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam – identified in 2005 as having high potential of joining the BRICS countries as some of the world's largest economies in the 21st century.


undecic

(mathematics) Of the eleventh order or degree


eleven-striped blind snake

en-noun

eleven-striped blind snake (plural eleven-striped blind snakes)

Epictia undecimstriata, a species of slender blind snake.


No 11

Coordinate term: No 10

Government sources, however, continued to brief that No 10 and No 11 were considering bringing the date forward.

2022 October 4, “Truss government in chaos amid budget confusion and coup accusations”, in The Guardian:

(UK politics) Synonym of 11 Downing Street.


undecuplet

(music) A group of eleven notes, typically to be played in place of eight.


(geometry) Synonym of hendecagon: A polygon with eleven edges and eleven angles.