nine

A1 Topic:Numbers & Quantity

US /naɪn/ UK /naɪn/ See IPA manual

Freq #1194

Meanings

1

num
The number 9, coming after eight and before ten.

A cat is said to have nine lives.
2

noun
The digit or figure 9.

She wrote a nine instead of a six.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

Word family

Forms nines

Derived forms cat-o'-ninecat-o'-nine-tailscat-o-nineeighty-ninefifty-ninefive-nineforty-ninefour-and-nineknicky-knocky-nine-doorsnicky-nicky-nine-doorsnine-ballnine-darter

Related forms ninthninther

Appears in

Idioms (2)

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Proverbs (5)

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Simplified etymology

Nine comes from Old English and can be traced to an ancient root shared with Latin novem and Greek ennea.

Etymology

PIE word *h₁néwn̥ From Middle English nyn, nyne, from Old English nigon (“nine”), from Proto-West Germanic *neun, from Proto-Germanic *newun (“nine”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”). Cognate with Scots neen, nine (“nine”), Saterland Frisian njúgen (“nine”), West Frisian njoggen (“nine”), Dutch negen (“nine”), German Low German negen (“nine”), German neun (“nine”), Danish ni (“nine”), Swedish nio (“nine”), Icelandic níu (“nine”), Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (niun, “nine”), Latin novem (“nine”), Ancient Greek ἐννέα (ennéa, “nine”), Sanskrit नव (náva, “nine”).

nyn Middle English nigon Old English *neun Proto-West Germanic *newun Proto-Germanic *h₁néwn̥ Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Numbers & Quantity

External links

# nine

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** num, noun
**IPA (US):** /naɪn/
**IPA (UK):** /naɪn/
**Frequency rank:** 1194

## Meanings
1. The number 9, coming after eight and before ten.
2. The digit or figure 9.

## Examples
- A cat is said to have nine lives.
- She wrote a nine instead of a six.

## Synonyms
- ix

## Derived Forms
- cat-o'-nine
- cat-o'-nine-tails
- cat-o-nine
- eighty-nine
- fifty-nine
- five-nine
- forty-nine
- four-and-nine
- knicky-knocky-nine-doors
- nicky-nicky-nine-doors
- nine-ball
- nine-darter

## Related Forms
- ninth
- ninther

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: nyn
- Root: nigon
- Root: *neun
- Root: *newun
- Root: *h₁néwn̥

## Etymology
PIE word *h₁néwn̥ From Middle English nyn, nyne, from Old English nigon (“nine”), from Proto-West Germanic *neun, from Proto-Germanic *newun (“nine”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”). Cognate with Scots neen, nine (“nine”), Saterland Frisian njúgen (“nine”), West Frisian njoggen (“nine”), Dutch negen (“nine”), German Low German negen (“nine”), German neun (“nine”), Danish ni (“nine”), Swedish nio (“nine”), Icelandic níu (“nine”), Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (niun, “nine”), Latin novem (“nine”), Ancient Greek ἐννέα (ennéa, “nine”), Sanskrit नव (náva, “nine”).

## AI Etymology
Nine comes from Middle English nyn, nyne, from Old English nigon (“nine”), from Proto-West Germanic *neun, from Proto-Germanic *newun (“nine”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”). Cognate with Scots neen, nine (“nine”), Saterland Frisian njúgen (“nine”), West Frisian njoggen (“nine”), Dutch negen (“nine”), German Low German negen (“nine”), German neun (“nine”), Danish ni (“nine”), Swedish nio (“nine”), Icelandic níu (“nine”), Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (niun, “nine”), Latin novem (“nine”), Ancient Greek ἐννέα (ennéa, “nine”), Sanskrit नव (náva, “nine”). Modern senses include the number 9, coming after eight and before ten and the digit or figure 9. The wider word family includes derivatives such as cat-o'-nine, cat-o'-nine-tails, cat-o-nine, eighty-nine, fifty-nine, and five-nine and related forms such as ninth and ninther.

## Topics
- Numbers & Quantity

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