Meanings
nine1
- A numerical value equal to 9; the number following eight and preceding ten.
Of course, for a number to have a biography, we need to assume that none of its digits are present more than nine times.
2008 March 2, Tanya Khovanova, “Autobiographical Numbers”, in arXiv, page 3, archived from the original on 20 Apr 20242 more examples
Would they want me to vote my conscience or would they want us to unanimously go the whole nine yards, declare him sane and possibly have the trial end up in a death sentence?
2007, Thomas Mchenry, Along the Rails: A Juror's Journey, page 85Tamunowari Tetenta, a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student, says he has attempted to register for his NIN on nine different occasions in Port Harcourt, a city southeast of Lagos.
2021 February 10, Eoin McSweeney, “As Covid-19 cases rise in Nigeria, a government policy is creating crowds and chaos”, in CNN, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2021
plural nines
- The digit or figure 9.
Indeed, if a number does not have nines, you can remove or add zeroes at the end of a biography to get another biography of the same number.
2008 March 2, Tanya Khovanova, “Autobiographical Numbers”, in arXiv, page 3 - card gamesA playing card with nine pips.
- engineeringA nine-millimeter semi-automatic pistol.
Hiro risks turning on a small flashlight, uses it to rummage around the yatcht, picking up valuable stuff: a few bottles of (presumably) drinkable water, some food, extra ammunition for his nine.
1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 359 - plural normallycomputingA statistical unit of proportion (of reliability, purity, etc.), counting the number of digits nine in a percentage.
They guaranteed that our Web site would have 99.99% uptime, or four nines.
- ball gamesA baseball club, team, or lineup (composed of nine players).
The St. Louis club is the only nine in the league which gives its patrons the right to see a full game or no pay.
1877, Chicago Times, July 8, 1877
Nine2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
nouna team of professional baseball players who play and travel together
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁néwn̥“nine”
- Proto-Germanic*newun“nine”
- Proto-West Germanic*neun
- Old Englishnigon“nine”
- Middle Englishnyn
- Englishnine
PIE word *h₁néwn̥ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ Proto-Germanic *newunt Proto-Germanic *newun Proto-West Germanic *neun Proto-West Germanic *nigun Old English nigon Middle English nyn English nine 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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans nege
- negecardinal number
Ancient Greek ἐννέα, θ΄
- ἐννέα (ennéa)cardinal number
- θ΄cardinal number
Arabic تِسْعَة, تسعة
- تِسْعَة (tisʕa)cardinal number
- تسعة (tisʕa)cardinal number
Basque bederatzi, bederatzi
- bederatzicardinal number
- bederatzithe digit or figure 9
Bengali নয়
- নয় (noẏ)cardinal number
Bulgarian де́вет, девя́тка
- де́вет (dévet)cardinal number
- девя́тка (devjátka)set or group with nine components
- девятка (devjatka)card with nine pips
Catalan nou, novena
- noucardinal number
- novenaset or group with nine components
- nouthe digit or figure 9
- noucard with nine pips
Chinese җю, 九
- җю (jiu)cardinal number
- 九 (kiú, káu, kiáu)cardinal number
Chinese Cantonese 九
- 九 (gau²)cardinal number
Chinese Mandarin 九, 九
- 九 (jiǔ)cardinal number
- 九 (jiǔ)the digit or figure 9
Czech devět
- devětcardinal number
Danish ni, nital
- nicardinal number
- nitalthe digit or figure 9
- niercard with nine pips
Dutch negen, negen
- negencardinal number
- negenthe digit or figure 9
Esperanto naŭ, naŭo
- naŭcardinal number
- naŭocard with nine pips
Estonian üheksa
- üheksacardinal number
Finnish yhdeksän, yhdeksikkö
- yhdeksäncardinal number
- yhdeksikköthe digit or figure 9
- ysithe digit or figure 9
- yhdeksikköcard with nine pips
- ysicard with nine pips
French neuf, neuf
- neufcardinal number
- neufthe digit or figure 9
German neun, Neun
- neuncardinal number
- Neunthe digit or figure 9
- Neuncard with nine pips
Greek εννέα, θ΄
- εννέα (ennéa)cardinal number
- θ΄cardinal number
Hawaiian iwa, ʻeiwa
- iwacardinal number
- ʻeiwacardinal number
Hebrew תֵּשַׁע, תִּשְׁעָה
- תֵּשַׁע (téisha)cardinal number
- תִּשְׁעָה (tish'a)cardinal number
Hindi नौ
- नौ (nau)cardinal number
Hungarian kilenc, kilences
- kilenccardinal number
- kilencesthe digit or figure 9
Icelandic níu
- níucardinal number
Indonesian sembilan
- sembilancardinal number
Irish naoi
- naoicardinal number
Italian nove, nove
- novecardinal number
- novethe digit or figure 9
Japanese 九, 九つ
- 九cardinal number
- 九つ (kokonotsu)cardinal number
- ナイン (nain)cardinal number
- 九the digit or figure 9
- ナイン (nain)the digit or figure 9
Korean 아홉, 구
- 아홉 (ahop)cardinal number
- 구 (gu)cardinal number
- 나인 (nain)cardinal number
Latin novem
- novemcardinal number
Latvian deviņi, deviņas
- deviņicardinal number
- deviņascardinal number
Lithuanian devyni, devynios
- devynicardinal number
- devynioscardinal number
- devyneriset or group with nine components
- devyneriosset or group with nine components
- devynetasthe digit or figure 9
Malay سمبيلن, سلاڤن
- سمبيلنcardinal number
- سلاڤنcardinal number
- ناواcardinal number
- sembilancardinal number
- selapancardinal number
- nawacardinal number
Māori iwa
- iwacardinal number
Persian نُه
- نُه (noh)cardinal number
Polish dziewięć, dziewięcioro
- dziewięćcardinal number
- dziewięciorocardinal number
- dziewiątkathe digit or figure 9
- dziewiątkacard with nine pips
Portuguese nove, novena
- novecardinal number
- novenaset or group with nine components
- novethe digit or figure 9
- novecard with nine pips
Punjabi ਨੌਂ
- ਨੌਂ (naũ)cardinal number
Romanian nouă
- nouăcardinal number
Russian де́вять, де́вятеро
- де́вять (dévjatʹ)cardinal number
- де́вятеро (dévjatero)cardinal number
- девя́тка (devjátka)set or group with nine components
- девя́тка (devjátka)the digit or figure 9
- девя́тка (devjátka)card with nine pips
Scottish Gaelic naoi, naoinear
- naoicardinal number
- naoinearcardinal number
Slovak deväť
- deväťcardinal number
Spanish nueve, nueve
- nuevecardinal number
- nuevethe digit or figure 9
Swahili tisa, tisa
- tisacardinal number
- tisaset or group with nine components
- tisathe digit or figure 9
- tisacard with nine pips
Swedish nio
- niocardinal number
Tagalog siyam
- siyamcardinal number
Tamil ஒன்பது, ஒம்பது
- ஒன்பது (oṉpatu)cardinal number
- ஒம்பது (ompatu)cardinal number
Thai เก้า
- เก้า (gâao)cardinal number
Turkish dokuz, dokuzlu
- dokuzcardinal number
- dokuzluset or group with nine components
Ukrainian де́в'ять, де́в'ятеро
- де́в'ять (dévʺjatʹ)cardinal number
- де́в'ятеро (dévʺjatero)cardinal number
- дев'ятка (devʺjatka)card with nine pips
Urdu نو
- نو (nau)cardinal number
Vietnamese chín
- chíncardinal number
Welsh naw
- nawcardinal number
Yiddish נײַן
- נײַן (nayn)cardinal number
Zulu isishiyagalolunye
- isishiyagalolunyecardinal number
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with nine
Cite this entry
nine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nine
“nine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nine. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nine,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nine.
Source: nine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.