What does "ennead" mean?
The number nine.
Ennead
/ˈɛnɪad/ name, noun
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The number nine.
- Grammar: ennead is listed as name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: nonet, 9, ix, nina from carolina.
- Useful contrasts: monad, octet, single work.
- Usage evidence: The ennead, according to the Pythagoreans, circulates all numbers within itself, and there can be no number beyond it. For the natural progression of numbers is as far as to 9, but after it their retrogression takes place. For 10 becomes as it were again the monad. […] Hence it is not possible there should be any elementary number beyond the ennead.
How to use "ennead"
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Source and review context
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The number nine. obsolete
"The ennead, according to the Pythagoreans, circulates all numbers within itself, and there can be no number beyond it. For the natural progression of numbers is as far as to 9, but after it their retrogression takes place. For 10 becomes as it were again the monad. […] Hence it is not possible there should be any elementary number beyond the ennead."
- 2 One of the six parts of the writings of the Greek-speaking philosopher Plotinus (c. 204–205 – 270), each containing nine treatises, compiled by his student Porphyry (c. 234 – c. 305).
"Which Darkneſs is a fourth Property of the Moſaick Matter, and on which Plotinus inſiſts pretty copiouſly in this ſecond Ennead, and contends we can have no other notion of it, […]"
- 3 the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one wordnet
- 4 Any grouping or system containing nine objects. rare
"We may assert with confidence that no cycle of this kind, and of equal antiquity or even of inferior antiquity, is the actual existence better attested or more thoroughly authenticated than that of this octaëteris of Philammon of Delphi, or, as we may truly call it, this original Pythian ennead of primitive Hellas."
Proper Noun
- 1 The collection of nine gods worshipped at Heliopolis and taking part in the Heliopolitan creation myth, together representing the sum of all the elements of the created world: Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Nut, Geb, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. Egyptian
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The ennead, according to the Pythagoreans, circulates all numbers within itself, and there can be no number beyond it. For the natural progression of numbers is as far as to 9, but after it their retrogression takes place. For 10 becomes as it were again the monad. […] Hence it is not possible there should be any elementary number beyond the ennead."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "ennead"?
Common synonyms include: nonet, 9, ix, nina from carolina, nine, nine deities.
How do you use "ennead" in a sentence?
The ennead, according to the Pythagoreans, circulates all numbers within itself, and there can be no number beyond it. For the natural progression of numbers is as far as to 9, but after it their retrogression takes place. For 10 becomes as it were again the monad. […] Hence it is not possible there should be any elementary number beyond the ennead.
How do you pronounce "ennead"?
Pronounced /ˈɛnɪad/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Ancient Greek ἐννεάς (enneás), ἐννεάδος (enneádos, “body of nine”) + -ad (suffix designating a unit); analysable as ennea- + -ad. The Greek words ἐννεάς and ἐννεάδος are derived from ἐννέᾰ (ennéă, “nine”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”)) + -ᾰ́ς (-ắs, suffix forming abstract nouns of number from numerals) or -ος (-os).
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἐννεάς (Enneás), itself a calque of Egyptian psḏt (“nine, nineness, ennead”), from psḏw (“nine”).
Etymology 3
See ennead.