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the nine

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nine

  [nahyn]
Use the nine in a Sentence
–noun
1. a cardinal number, eight plus one.
2. a symbol for this number, as 9 or IX.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. a baseball team.
5. a playing card with nine pips.
6. the Nine, the Muses.
–adjective
7. amounting to nine in number.
—Idiom
8. dressed to the nines, looking one's best; dressed smartly, splendidly, etc.: All the girls were dressed to the nines for the party.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE nigan, nigon, c. D negen, akin to G neun, ON nīu, Goth niun, L novem, Gk ennéa, Skt náva
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

nine 
O.E. nigen, from P.Gmc. *niwun (cf. O.Fris. niugun, O.N. niu, Du. negen, Ger. neun, Goth. niun "nine"), from PIE (e)newn (cf. Skt. nava, Avestan nava, Gk. ennea, Alb. nende, L. novem, Lith. devnyi, O.C.S. deveti (the Balto-Slavic forms by dissimilation of -n- to -d-), O.Ir. noin, Welsh naw). Ninth is O.E. nigonðe. Sense in cloud nine, etc., possibly because, "As the largest one-figure integer, nine is sometimes used for emphasis" [Shipley]. Nine to five "the average workday" is attested from 1959. Nine days has been proverbial since 14c. for the time which a wonder or novelty holds attention. The game of ninepins is attested from 1580.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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