What does the number eleven mean? And what unusual words and expressions incorporate eleven?
The word derives from the Old English endleofan, which means “one left,” as in “one left over ten.”
This literal sense is found in the colloquial expression “the eleventh hour,” which is used to talk about doing something at the last possible moment. For example, “In the eleventh hour, Sophie switched the caterer and invited ten more people to the wedding.”
It’s believed that the expression originally referenced the bible, Matthew 20:1-16. In the parable, laborers were hired at the eleventh hour of a twelve-hour workday. But they received the same wage as workers who began during the first hour.
Is there really a word for a snack eaten at 11 in the morning? In fact, there is. In England, the term “elevenses” refers to a mid-morning snack, such as biscuits with a cup of tea. The Spanish term las onces, “the elevens,” also refers to a refreshment taken around 11.
The word “elevenses” was used in America as well. It referred to the now abandoned custom of a pre-noon whiskey break.
What is the link between a whole bunch of elevens and Veteran’s Day? Read about that here.
cool. i never knew that.
[...] A double sawbuck and a pair of aces — isn’t that enough? — We’ll take that pair at any table — with odds calling any bluff. — Turn it into Eleven and it’s somehow closing time — Not anymore because 24 — Seven unless the neighborhoods not prime. — Eleven, Eleven, Eleven – they called it Armistice Day — After the War to end all wars before Capitalists learned WAR really did Pay. — They say it’s for the veterans — though it’s for the CIA. “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” — Roll the Dice, Seven come Eleven and pray. [...]
So then twelve…? Two left over? I can see the 10 + 1 since we have a base-ten system (I’m guessing cuz we have 10 fingers) – Always wondered why 11 & 12 didn’t fit the pattern (oneteen, twoteen, thirteen…)
I am not sure how “the eleventh hour” fits the literal sense… The literal sense would be that I have to use my big toe to count one past 10. The expression (as the article states) means the last practical time to do something before time runs out (the last hour of a 12 hour work day). Oh well… I guess 10+1 is technically the same as 12-1…
This Hot Word should spark a conversation on the tradition of Numerology, or possibly Brunch.
Both would be great topics!
–Raina
I’ll never look at the word “eleven” the same way again.
11 IS MY LUCKY NUMBER!!!!!! LOL AND I CANT WAIT MY 17TH BIRTHDAY IS IN 15 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very interesting.
Very interesting piece, congratulations. I wanted to add something, in Chile, “once” (eleven), or “tomar once” (to have “once”), is the mid afternoon or 5 o’clock tea equivalent. The origin is not clear, but many believe it comes from a deceiving way to drink hard liquor, moonshine specifically, called “aguardiente” (burning water) in Chile. “Aguardiente” has 11 letters, and supposedly was the code used by Chilean miners in the XIX century to have the mid afternoon snack, with a twist.
Never would have imagined…
Interesting information! 
In Spanish it is much more usual to say “las once”, instead of “las onces”.
Happy 2011!!!
In a hundred years, we’ve gone from pre-noon whiskey breaks to the pre-noon corporate beating. Man, am I scared of my bosses!
Wow! First comment! Awesome! This is the one that everyone reads and really looks deeply into for some insight………….sorry guys. No special insight or life-changing quote this time. I’m going with the bible idea.
in barroom medicine, an old drunk newly out of rehab or on the mend often displays two vertical parallel lines on the back of the neck when all of the fatty tissue and collagen have gone away. When the man has drunk his fill and he is leaving, the bartender will signal others in the bar with two fingers held vertically, either an index finger on each hand or a V (for victory or peace) finger sign. This gesture is called “the elevens” and it indicates that the bartender recognizes that the drunk has reached a condition known by that name. He’s unlikely to be back to the bar–he’s reached the point where he can survive only a few more nights of heavy drinking.
eleven is visualized by pre-literate cultures as being all ten fingers plus one arm. Twelve is similarly visualized as being all ten fingers plus both arms. Thirteen, because it was too big a number to visualize easily, made counting difficult. A glance at a tray of rolls doesn’t tell you instantly if there are twelve or thirteen. To prevent argument, bakers would just add another roll for a baker’s dozen.
I love ness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2011 is my graduation year, and one left fits perfectly! I go to a small school, and all 75 kids in my grade have been together since Kindergarden, We have all been looking forward to this LAST year of high school. One left, Never thought it would come..
Interesting…
That is soooo kool lol i can’t wait till 2012 to see what is so kool bout that number 2!!!!
I don’t know how many of you have read about Paddington, but he is a bear from Darkest Peru in a fiction series. He moved to England because his Aunt Lucy was getting old and had to go to the “Retired Home for Bears”. He, however, finds a family in London and stays with them. He has a neighbor, Mr. Brown(I think) who always has elevenses with him(a roll and a mug of hot cocoa). I’ve always wondered what elevenses were and where they came from, and now I know! I always thought they would have to be around nine o’clock, because Mrs. Bird’s lunches were always made out to be so big, but I suppose Paddington could handle it, after all, he’s ALWAYS hungry! (But especially for orange marmalade)
My favorite time of the day is 11:11; am or pm.
Let’s bring back the pre -noon whiskey break!!!! Someone start a facebook page and lets get this thing passed.
one left?
view the # eleven.
there is a “1″ on the left and a “1″ on the right.
in eastern customs the text is read from left to right.
adding one to the left of a one =11.
kevinprison =Bo ]
Well if you ask me this blog is stupid and all of yall are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stupid!!!!!!
I’m surprised to find no reference of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the Armistice of the Great War. The number 11 always brings this to mind for me.
‘the number eleven is the blazon of sin’ -Saint Augustine. It’s a number of excess as one over the ‘perfect number’ of 10 (1+2+3+4) of Pythagoras, thus symbolizing excess, extravagance and exaggeration. Also of discord, rebellion, aberration and the revolt of angels from 12 a perfect number in the Bible minus one, such as 12 disciples but then there were 11 after Judas’s suicide. So definitely an unlucky prime number!
I like the pre-noon Whiskey break. Maybe JD can post this on their Facebook page…of course, they probably already do that in Tennessee!! LOL
I was also confused how the literal sense of eleven would have any relationship with “the eleventh hour.” That seems like the exact opposite.
nahhh….
Who cares about this stuff? I agree with /I’m just saying y’all/.
@ David-
German is the same way. zehn, (ten) elf,(eleven) zwölf,(twelve) dreizehn,(thirteen) vierzehn, (fourteen)…
At the small high school my children attended, 11:11 was called happy minute. The students had a really good time with it, and it remains a part of our family. Silly, I know.
Lets see so 11 has two ones in the number.. So that means 11-1 is ten, ten minus two is eight, and eight plus three is eleven…
OH. MY. GOD.
We’re all gonna die……
If im not mistaken, didn’t the hobbit “Perrigen Took” in “Lord of the Rings” say something about elevenses and tea?
Good conversation anyway
Abandoned?! Heh.
well, i think this is kind of a bit information to me, also here in my place in the philippines, because we have a store hee called 7-11 its like a a mini-normal-house-size supermarket where you can drop by to eat or to buy something when you’re in a hurry, that’s why its name is 7-11, 7 days a week and “at the eleventh hour” nice…
uhh cool!!!
11 means ‘one left’, so for me, the meaning has nothing to do with being one more than ten, but simply ‘one more’. So, what is ‘one more’ in regards to 11? The year is 2011, one more is 2012. We have one more year left after 2011.
I love dictionary! That is sooo cool!!!!!!!! 
I wonder if this year is the last year to get ready for the time of trouble that will be and will be since the world began. Daniel 12:1
I wonder if this year is the last year to get prepared for the time of trouble that is near to come that the bible describes in the book of Daniel 12:1.
And now for something fascinating: Eleven is not only a hot word but it too is a “hot number” The Spanish numerical character is 11 and it is remarkably similar to the English numerical character 11. Now that is HOT. 2012 bring it on!
It’s one louder, isn’t it. It’s not ten.
When I worked on a Kibbutz Sa’ar in Israel many years ago, we started about 5 in the morning and would work until lunchtime. In between, I always looked forward to the 10 o’clock meal (really a snack of tea and cookies or biscuits).
No one here is stupid. This is good information that yoU may one day need. what if you are on a game show and they ask you what is the literial meaning of eleven? You could possibly win 1 million dollars…. please don’t call people stupid. You have to enjoy this life and have fun. I bought all of my co-workers Barbie dolls for Christmas and all the males Hot wheels. Live and have fun
@I’m just saying y’all: you’re the stupid one!!
nothing unusual
That is so cool
HAPPY 2011
the very last minuite doing what?
that is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAPPY 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where can I get one of ‘em eleventh hour jobs? Are they posted on Craigslist?
awesome!
Interesting, 2012 coming up, so one year left? haha
wow kevin your a smart one!!!!!!!!!!!!
hahahaha…..no…k bye i have to do my HW now….
Yeah, every say goodbye to 2o1o and hello 2o11
IF U HAVE A NEGATIVE COMMENT PLEASE NO ONE WANTS TO SEE IT SO DONT POST IT HERE …..THANK U
2011 is all positive stuff
um, saying “one left to go” at the beginning is scary because its one year to 2012…
anyway happy new year
HAPPY TWENTY TWELVE! *BOOM*
D Very last minute for COMPLEX EXISTENCE to fix its current UNIVERSAL affairs. The signs r everywhere and there is more 4 u all 2 c, and mostly experience in d flesh in the next 2 left cycles.
Therefore, if u r not willing to change your hate & war monger. This is the last chance u have 2 hate and or love!
11=Many things for the Master take ur pick:
D 1 2 d left or right! Either way works, it’s what u perceive!
D last hour
D cut off time when d spells of worlds no longer bides d hangman
D master number from where all other derived 2 become infinite
D time when d master is no longer held back by other spells
D time when d master realises that his work is supreme and does not need approval from lame foolish men.
D time to sit n watch what is to come
D eve of an ending cycle
D db over 10+ meaning 11 HOT HOT HOT frequencies, that ur children will not tolerate in their normal state….
D ELF
D Master Spell
“I’m just saying y’all” is so nice……….not! any way I like the number 11.
hmhm…..
Good ideas guys….
Sorry,, nothing to add as I do agree with the bible always!!!
Having been colonized by Spain for 300 hundred years, Filipinos have adopted Spanish words into their native language—such as “once” now locally spelled as “onse”. It’s still the alternate word for eleven but it also means “to shortchange” somebody — like one less of a dozen. For those couples who view 11/11/11 as an auspicious date for their weddings, you better think again.
1.1.11
11.1.11
1.11.11
11.11.11
this is the best things in this year….we will have 4 times this same date…its amazing. and After so many years it will come…or may be not…GOD KNOWS!!!
I’m just saying y’all: what do you think are you doing?
“Well if you ask me this blog is stupid and all of yall are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stupid!!!!!!”
oh man, you said that. do you not think what you did is much stupid?
c’mon. make a change.
loveandpeace,
ms.karma
Biblically I have been told 11 is 1 less than 12. 12 tribes, 12 disciples, 12 gates, 12 stones, etc. etc.
I think they should ban BLOGCHI@mayopia.com from posting on the Dictionary.com blogs.
Cat owners have another meaning of the term “elevenses”: When you’re getting ready for bed, or have just gone to bed, your cat may pick that moment to become frisky. He’ll race up and down the halls, claws digging into the carpet with a distinctive scratching sound, chasing your other cat, or your dog, or even just his own shadow. Or she’ll get up on your desk or dresser, or any other piece of furniture in the bedroom, and prance around it, purring mischievously and investigating everything you’ve left up there (and likely knocking it off, particularly if she’s a clumsy cat like mine). As it tends to happen around 11 PM (or sometimes 2 AM, depending on the cats’ moods), this nighttime friskiness is known as the “elevenses”.
‘11′ is odd with e-v-e-n end.
This is the thing why 7-Eleven, in short 7E, appears in the market selling stuffs for those people rushing at the last minute selling item(s). How bout when 20 combines with 11 forming the year 2011? 20 is a symbolic meaning to 10 fingers plus 10 toes of humankind. So, this year (2011) more people will work mostly on the last minute basis. Is it logic? May be!
In numerology, 2011 equals to 2+0+1+1 which is 4. Refer to numerology book for what is 4 if you have any or search it on internet if it is available. Still far for the world’s economy recovery (I think!). For fun talking, number 4 is a symbolic to the right leg bend and rest on the left leg. More people with jobless and waiting for the last minute call, if any.
I am waiting for the Date 11-11-2011 and time 11:11:11
Very interesting people and comments on 11…. which has always been my lucky # and time of day also, day or night…. Happy New year everyone may all your dreams and aspirations come through…. and I know it will as it is the lucky #…. Chao
If 12am until 12 pm is considered a day, wouldn’t 11pm be the last hour you have in a day before the next day arrives?
If you are preparing for an event and the climax of that event happens at the 12th hour, wouldn’t the 11th hour be the last hour you had to prepare for that particular event that would be happening at the 12th hour?
So, the 11th hour would be a last opportunity to accomplish something that would be relative to and prepatory for an event that following during the 12th hour.
If, as many have mentioned that the end of the world were to occur in 2012, (Nostradamus, Mayans, Bible, and I think the Great Pyramid + others, I’m sure) then, it could be reasoned out that 2011 would be the ‘final hour’ or last opportunity to prepare for the climatic events that are predicted/prophesied for 2012.
????
hot word blog is the coolest thing ever.
from holly
Ban Chi! He can’t handle the truth.
So if we’re in the eleventh hour, and the world as we know it is going to end next year, maybe we should all stop paying our debts and use that money to enjoy life?
Just sayin….
Also I am in favour of the return of the 11am whiskey break, especially around this time of year. Must warm from the inside!
@Tammy D
Why would you want to ban that? I love L.T.’s playful verse (hardly the doggerel that it describes itself as). It’s fun, catchy, and sometimes even pithy.
Would you rather the comments section be reserved for nothing but airheaded, discriminatory posts like your own?
~Saf
I agree with cyberquill….
“Leaves one” (out of a dozen)!
“twelve” is two-over-ten.
fact: ”thirteen” is three-over-ten.
also: ”forteen” is four-over-ten.
and: ” fifteen” is five-over-ten.
bet you didnt know that losers!!!
what about the number “23?”
In a metaphysical sense, 11 is a master number and one chooses to reincarnate as a noviate of a higher purpose. The master number is 22
and the Christ number is 33. Any multiple of 11 has extra power to use
or abuse.
@ Elaine: 12 am- 12 pm is not a day because 12 pm is noon
Exhaustive interpretation of the word eleven…looking forward for twelve next year..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY-LOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sick! Just got a brand-new Pearl and I can now read your blog on my phone’s browser, it didn’t perform on my previous one.
Sick! Just got a brand-new Pearl and I can now read your blog on my phone’s browser, it didn’t work on my outdated 1.
An hispanic person told me the other day that the number 1 in spanish also means eleven. I asked him, how would you write 1 in spanish and he said, I would have to write, una as opposed to a number. Sounded strange to me but I figured he would know.
One left, could this mean that 2011 is the last year
well we’ll see what happens
11-11-11 IS AN AUSPICIOUS DATE, SO MUCH INFORMATION, ‘MOST INTERESTING’ !!!!! ..WHAT I FOUND TRULY ‘BIZARRE’, WAS A REMARK BY (CHATHU COOL-”NOTHING TO ADD,AS I DO AGREE WITH THE BIBLE
‘ALWAYS’ !!!! ).. THE ‘BIBLE’, A BOOK, HAS BEEN WRITTEN & RE-WRITTEN MANY, MANY TIMES BY SCRIBES, ‘CONTEMPORARY TO ‘THEIR TIMES’
OVER MANY YEARS, CHAPTERS DELETED, SOME ADDED TO !!!!!..( HOW BIZARRE FOR SOMEONE PAST 7 OR 8 TO USE THE WORD, ‘ALWAYS’ ????)
… J.
Happy Birthday to the Eleventh Doctor <3
I hope you receive an endless supply of bow ties, stetsons, and fezzes … you look dashing in them all.
1 1 ..? 2 ? or 1+10? or 1? I suppose it all depends on perception. But it could be….. Two becoming one. All things having two sides or an opposite. i.e. both sides of the brain. Or everything is a reflection of itself. Perfect duality. It is only once once you have realized, you are aware. Therefore Seeing both sides, and no longer seeing it as 1 past ten or any variation, Instead seeing it as 1. Or 11 as 1. or as бесконечность. Don’t mean to be too circumlocutory with this, but. All things circumventing will full circle. Or will they? Or does it all continue? O circular – linear? Maybe the numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144… play more significance as it all spirals out? Is 11 the beginning, the end (or almost), all or nothing, Infinity or Void? Once again it all depends. As 11.11 has been regarded as ‘The Number of Synchronicity’ You can view it 1 1 1 1 or 1… 4 times 4:A foundation, order, service, struggle against limits, steady growth. So maybe not any of the cases we think? Maybe a point of reinvention or redirection? especially without knowing that the invention already exists. Nothing is only anything until it is something, and something is only something because nothing is something. How do you perceive it? Every moment is momentous. Any moment unless defined cannot exist. 4 years ago at 11.11 I had a 9mm FMJ pass through my head exiting my third eye after first passing through, destroying, my eye. 2 became 1 and opened a third. After awaking in the ICU I found a tag on my ankle (among many). It read: John Doe DOB: 11/11/1911 1 inch at any other angle and that tag would have been on my toe. Maybe it is a sign of potential. A moment that if utilized, could be pivotal. How many of these moments do we get? How do we see them? And when we see them how do we react? Or if every moment that moment, are we just lacking the perception?
Ha ***paradox*** ooops….. Oh and for the record and the kind Reverend’s information……………….Five Over Ten Times Thirty is 15 ; P
1 1 ..? 2 ? or 1+10? or 1? I suppose it all depends on perception. But it could be….. Two becoming one. All things having two sides or an opposite. i.e. both sides of the brain. Or everything is a reflection of itself. Perfect duality. It is only once once you have realized, you are aware. Therefore Seeing both sides, and no longer seeing it as 1 past ten or any variation, Instead seeing it as 1. Or 11 as 1. or as бесконечность. Don’t mean to be too circumlocutory with this, but. All things circumventing will full circle. Or will they? Or does it all continue? O circular – linear? Maybe the numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144… play more significance as it all spirals out? Is 11 the beginning, the end (or almost), all or nothing, Infinity or Void? Once again it all depends. As 11.11 has been regarded as ‘The Number of Synchronicity’ You can view it 1 1 1 1 or 1… 4 times 4:A foundation, order, service, struggle against limits, steady growth. So maybe not any of the cases we think? Maybe a point of reinvention or redirection? especially without knowing that the invention already exists. Nothing is only anything until it is something, and something is only something because nothing is something. How do you perceive it? Every moment is momentous. Any moment unless defined cannot exist. 4 years ago at 11.11 I had a 9mm FMJ pass through my head exiting my third eye after first passing through, destroying, my eye. 2 became 1 and opened a third. After awaking in the ICU I found a tag on my ankle (among many). It read: John Doe DOB: 11/11/1911 1 inch at any other angle and that tag would have been on my toe. Maybe it is a sign of potential. A moment that if utilized, could be pivotal. How many of these moments do we get? How do we see them? And when we see them how do we react? Or if every moment is that moment, are we just lacking the perception?
Meaning of the numbers
1. Initiating action, pioneering, leading, independent, attaining, individual.
2. Cooperation, adaptability, consideration of others, partnering, mediating.
3. Expression, verbalization, socialization, the arts, the joy of living.
4. A foundation, order, service, struggle against limits, steady growth.
5. Expansiveness, visionary, adventure, the constructive use of freedom.
6. Responsibility, protection, nurturing, community, balance, sympathy.
7. Analysis, understanding, knowledge, awareness, studious, meditating.
8. Practical endeavors, status oriented, power-seeking, high-material goals.
9. Humanitarian, giving nature, selflessness, obligations, creative expression.
1 1 ..? 2 ? or 1+10? or 1? I suppose it all depends on perception. But it could be….. Two becoming one. All things having two sides or an opposite. i.e. both sides of the brain. Or everything is a reflection of itself. Perfect duality. It is only once once you have realized, you are aware. Therefore Seeing both sides, and no longer seeing it as 1 past ten or any variation, Instead seeing it as 1. Or 11 as 1. or as бесконечность. Don’t mean to be too circumlocutory with this, but. All things circumventing will full circle. Or will they? Or does it all continue? O circular – linear? Maybe the numbers 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144… play more significance as it all spirals out? Is 11 the beginning, the end (or almost), all or nothing, Infinity or Void? Once again it all depends. As 11.11 has been regarded as ‘The Number of Synchronicity’ http://www.urigeller.com/articles/11.htm You can view it 1 1 1 1 or 1… 4 times 4:A foundation, order, service, struggle against limits, steady growth. So maybe not any of the cases we think? Maybe a point of reinvention or redirection? especially without knowing that the invention already exists. Nothing is only anything until it is something, and something is only something because nothing is something. How do you perceive it? Every moment is momentous. Any moment unless defined cannot exist. 4 years ago at 11.11 I had a 9mm FMJ pass through my head exiting my third eye after first passing through, destroying, my eye. 2 became 1 and opened a third. After awaking in the ICU I found a tag on my ankle (among many). It read: John Doe DOB: 11/11/1911 1 inch at any other angle and that tag would have been on my toe. Maybe it is a sign of potential. A moment that if utilized, could be pivotal. How many of these moments do we get? How do we see them? And when we see them how do we react? Or if every moment is that moment, are we just lacking the perception?
that’s just werid, kool and scary
@John Schmidt, there is a religion out there that explicitly recognizes this. One of their sayings is “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly….” Do you know which group would be smart enough to account for the errors of man with regard to translation, while still accepting the truths found within this compilation of scripture?
11 means the last hour. Why would people assume 2012 would be the end of the world. Why not the year 12 or the year 112 or 212 or1012 or even 1112. Here’s a thought how about we as homosapiens stop making assumptions on when the world is coming to an end. It’s way more reasonable to think it would be on a date that made the world tremble like 9/11.
Greek language also uses similar term for a light snack before lunch but an hour earlier: “daeckatiano” coming from decka = ten
People used to think that the year 2000 would be the end of the world.
any whole num divided by 11 (or 7)
–the remainder will add up to 9 each time it repeats
(sideways)
for instance –
2011 / 11 = 182.81818181818181818181818181818
2012 / 11 = 182.90909090909090909090909090909
23 / 11 = 2.090909090909090909090909090909
81 / 11 = 7.363636363636363636363636363636
with 7’s
2011 / 7 = 287.28571428571428571428571428571
(2+8+5+7+1+4 = 27, 2+7=9)
try it for yourself
people are crazy for the year & Your post really nice.
This is irrelevnt, but I just find it interesting that some one who referred to those of us that post here as “All of Yall” finds this “soooooooooo stupid”!
CLEARLY, they ought to spend MORE time here, don’t you think?
The Old English “endleofan” (one left) doesn’t make sense to me. “One left [over ten]” seems like it should be nine. Isn’t “going left” the same as “going down”?
E-levitate, maybe to begin to go higher
above the original ten??
“E” meaning “out of”
Maybe ?