Word of the Day

Friday, March 29, 2002

nonagenarian

\non-uh-juh-NAIR-ee-uhn; no-nuh-\ , noun;

A ninety year old person; someone whose age is in the nineties.

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Quotes:

There seemed to be relatively few octogenarians and nonagenarians alive in the early 1930s. Contrast that with my current practice, in which I see a great number of patients in their eighties and nineties.

-- Stephen L. Richmond, "Tales from the Death Certificate", Physician Assistant, January 1999

Good health is essential, of course--a gift that none of these nonagenarians, having outlived friends and loved ones, takes for granted.

-- Roy Huffman, "Working Past 90", Fortune, November 13, 2000

Origin:

Nonagenarian derives from Latin nonagenarius, "containing or consisting of ninety," from nonageni-, "ninety each", ultimately from novem, "nine," as in November, originally the ninth month of the old Roman calendar.