"next in order or rank after the eighth; being one of nine equal parts into which a whole is regarded as divided;" c. 1300, nynþe, an alteration or replacement (by influence of nine) of nigonðe, from Old English nigoða, nigende, for which compare seventh. Also see -th (1). As a noun, "ordinal numeral corresponding to nine," late 13c. As the name of a musical interval, 1590s. Related: Ninthly.
word-forming element meaning "away, from, from off, down," denoting disjunction, separation, departure; from Latin ab (prep.) "off, away from" in reference to space or distance, also of time, from PIE root *apo- "off, away" (also the source of Greek apo "off, away from, from," Sanskrit apa "away from," Gothic af, English of, off; see apo-).
The Latin word also denoted "agency by; source, origin; relation to, in consequence of." Since classical times usually reduced to a- before -m-, -p-, or -v-; typically abs- before -c-, -q-, or -t-.
"from the beginning," Latin, literally "from the egg," from ab "from, away from" (see ab-) + ablative of ovum "egg" (see ovum). The expression is said to refer to the Roman custom of beginning the meal with eggs, as also in the expression ab ovo usque ad mala, "from the egg to the apples" (Horace), hence "from the beginning to the end" (compare early 20c. soup to nuts).
with year-dates, an occasional Roman method of identifying a given year by reference to the time passed since founding of the city, which in 1c. B.C.E. was calculated to have taken place in what we would call 753 B.C.E. Literally "from the city founded;" the elements are ab "from" (see ab-) + ablative of urbs "city" (see urban) + fem. past participle of condere "put together, store," from assimilated form of com- "together" (see com-) + -dere "put" (from PIE root *dhe- "to put, place").
late 14c. in reference to the Roman calendar, "ninth day (by inclusive reckoning) before the ides of each month" (7th of March, May, July, October, 5th of other months), from Old French nones and directly from Latin nonæ (accusative nonas), fem. plural of nonus "ninth," contracted from *novenos, from novem "nine" (see nine).
The ecclesiastical sense of "daily office said originally at the ninth hour of the day" is from 1709; originally fixed at ninth hour from sunrise, hence about 3 p.m. (now usually somewhat earlier), from Latin nona (hora) "ninth (hour)," from fem. plural of nonus "ninth." It was also used from c. 1300 in a general sense of "midday" (see noon). For for the nones, see nonce.
"musical composition for nine voices or instruments," 1865, from Italian nonetto, from nono "ninth," from Latin nonus "ninth," contracted from *novenos, from novem "nine" (see nine).
masc. proper name, Biblical ninth of the prophets, from Hebrew Tzephanyah "the Lord has hidden."
