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nine
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "nine" is /naɪn/.
/naɪn/
Word Form Variations
Singular: nine (e.g., "I have nine apples.")
Ordinal: ninth (e.g., "He finished ninth in the race.")
Adverbial (informal/colloquial): nine (used in phrases like "dressed to the nines")
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Noun
Definition 1: The cardinal number following eight and preceding ten; the quantity representing one more than eight.
Synonyms: niner (colloquial, especially in aviation/radio), IX (Roman numeral), 9 (Arabic numeral)
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms as it represents a specific quantity; concepts like "zero" or "none" could be considered conceptually opposite in some contexts, but not true antonyms of the number itself.)
Definition 2: A digit or figure representing the number nine.
Synonyms: digit, numeral, figure
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms)
Definition 3: (Informal) A baseball team, referring to the nine players on the field.
Synonyms: team, squad
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms)
Adjective
Definition 1: Consisting of nine units or items; amounting to the number nine.
Synonyms: novenary (rare), enneadic (rare)
Antonyms: (No direct antonyms as it describes a specific quantity; "single," "few," or "many" could be conceptual opposites in some contexts, but not true antonyms of the number nine itself.)
Examples of Use
Books: "The Fellowship consisted of nine companions, setting out on a perilous journey to destroy the One Ring." (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, July 1954)
Newspapers: "The city council approved the new zoning ordinance by a vote of nine to zero, reflecting strong bipartisan support." (The Washington Post, May 2024)
Online Publications: "Scientists have identified nine new exoplanets in a distant star system, further expanding our understanding of the universe." (Space.com, June 2024)
Entertainment Mediums (Film): In the movie Nine to Five, three working women conspire to get even with their sexist boss. (Twentieth Century Fox, December 1980)
Entertainment Platforms (Music): "She sang along to The Beatles' 'Revolution 9,' a controversial sound collage from The White Album." (Apple Records, November 1968)
General Public Discourse: "I've been working from nine to five every day this week, so I'm really looking forward to the weekend." (Common idiom)
General Public Discourse: "My son just turned nine last month, and he's already asking for a bike."
10 Quotes Using Nine
"If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you." (Calvin Coolidge)
"The main difference between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives." (Mark Twain)
"Success is falling nine times and getting up ten." (Jon Bon Jovi)
"A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings." (Earl Wilson)
"I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up." (Benjamin Franklin)
"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." (C. S. Lewis)
"His genius he was quite content in one brief sentence to define; Of inspiration one percent, of perspiration, ninety nine." (Thomas A. Edison)
"I myself spent nine years in an insane asylum and I never had the obsession of suicide, but I know that each conversation with a psychiatrist, every morning at the time of his visit, made me want to hang myself, realizing that I would not be able to cut his throat." (Antonin Artaud)
"A stitch in time saves nine." (Proverb)
"The number of guests at dinner should not be less than the number of the Graces nor exceed that of the Muses, i.e., it should begin with three and stop at nine." (Marcus Terentius Varro.
Etymology
The word "nine" has a really old and interesting history! It comes from a long line of words that all mean the same number, going back thousands of years.
Imagine tracing a family tree for words. "Nine" in modern English comes from the Middle English word "nīn," which in turn came from the Old English word "nigen."
But it doesn't stop there! Old English "nigen" has roots in an even older language called Proto-Germanic, where it was something like "*newun." And before that, it's traced back to a super ancient language called Proto-Indo-European (PIE), where the word for nine was "*h₁néwn̥."
What's cool about this is that many languages spoken today, from Latin (where we get "novem") to Greek ("ennéa") and even Sanskrit ("nava"), have words for nine that sound remarkably similar. This shows that these languages all share a common ancestor, and the word for "nine" was part of that very early vocabulary.
The first known use and meaning of "nine" in English (or its direct ancestors) has always been to represent the cardinal number that comes after eight and before ten. So, from its earliest appearance in Old English (before the 12th century), it simply meant the quantity of "one more than eight."
Phrases + Idioms Containing Nine
Dressed to the nines: Dressed very elegantly or stylishly.
A cat has nine lives: Refers to a person's ability to survive dangerous situations.
On cloud nine: Feeling extremely happy or euphoric.
A stitch in time saves nine: Taking immediate action prevents larger problems later.
The whole nine yards: Everything possible or available; the complete extent.
To the nine: To perfection; thoroughly. (Less common than "dressed to the nines")
Nine-to-five: Referring to a standard workday, typically 9 AM to 5 PM.
Behind the nine ball: In a difficult or disadvantageous situation (from billiards).
Possession is nine-tenths of the law: Ownership is strongly favored in legal disputes.
The nine days' wonder: Something that causes a sensation for a short time but is soon forgotten.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of nine from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
