九 - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: 玖, 丸, and 力

九 (Kangxi radical 5, 乙+1, 2 strokes, cangjie input 大弓 (KN), four-corner 4001₇, composition ⿻㇓㇈)

• 仇, 㕤, 扏, 氿, 肍, 朹, 犰, 䊵(𮉠), 訅, 䜪, 軌(轨), 㐜, 釚(𫟲), 骩, 鼽, 丸, 旭, 訄, 䧱, 虓, 頄(𬱓), 馗, 㐡, 㐤, 鳩(鸠), 勼, 宄, 尻, 旯, 㶢, 艽, 究, 㭝, 㐇, 卆, 厹, 叴, 旮, 杂, 䲥, 㔲, 抛, 亴

• 𛀭

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 83, character 19
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 167
• Dae Jaweon: page 168, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 48, character 5
• Unihan data for U+4E5D

Pictogram (象形) – a stylized hand, with bent wrist/forearm (hence the hook stroke at lower right). Earlier forms resemble 手 (shǒu), 寸 (cùn). The original meaning of the glyph was “elbow”, which is now written 肘 (OC *tkuʔ).

After the meaning “elbow” was forgotten, 九 was taken to symbolize a fist tightening to bump up against something; thus, there is a metaphorical bumping up of nine against ten, which is the last number when counting on one's fingers.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d/s-kəw. Compare Tibetan དགུ (dgu).

九

1. nine

   • 九九八十一。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

     From: “The Mnemonic of Multiplication”

     Jiǔ jiǔ bāshíyī. [Pinyin]

     Nine times nine is eighty-one.

2. (figurative) many

   • 九曲黃河萬里沙，浪淘風簸自天涯。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     九曲黄河万里沙，浪淘风簸自天涯。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 822?, Liu Yuxi, “Ripples Sifting Sand”

     Jiǔ qū huánghé wàn lǐ shā, làng táo fēng bò zì tiānyá. [Pinyin]

     The Yellow River with its many twists and turns flows thousands of miles full of sand / Carried by its waves stirred up by the wind coming from a faraway land.

3. (weather) each of the nine nine-day periods from the winter solstice

   • 一九二九不出手，三九四九冰上走。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

     From: “The Nine Nine-Day Periods Song”, a folk song

     Yī jiǔ èr jiǔ bù chū shǒu, sān jiǔ sì jiǔ bīng shàng zǒu. [Pinyin]

     In the first and the second nine-day period, one should not take out one's hand; / In the third and the fourth nine-day period, the ice is thick enough to stand.

4. (Cantonese, minced oath, euphemistic) Synonym of 㞗 (gau1, “penis”)

• 勾 (gōu) (in radio communications)

Others:

• → Proto-Tai: *kɤwꟲ (“nine”)
  • Northern Tai:
    • Bouyei: guz
    • Zhuang: gouj
    • Saek: กู̂
    • Tai Do: cau
  • Central Tai:
    • Caolan: cáu
    • Nùng: càu
    • Tày: cẩu
  • Wenma-Southwestern Tai:
    • Sapa-Southwestern Tai:
      • Proto-Southwestern Tai:
        • Thai: เก้า (gâao)
        • Northern Thai: ᨠᩮᩢ᩶ᩣ
        • Lao: ເກົ້າ (kao)
        • Lü: ᦂᧁᧉ (k̇aw²)
        • Tai Dam: ꪹꪀ꫁ꪱ (cảu)
        • Shan: ၵဝ်ႈ (kāo)
        • Tai Laing: ကႍဝ်
        • Tai Nüa: ᥐᥝᥲ (kàw)
        • Ahom: 𑜀𑜧 (kaw)

For pronunciation and definitions of 九 – see 鳩 (“to gather; to assemble”).
(This character is an obsolete form of 鳩).

九

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

1. nine

• Go-on: く (ku, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: きゅう (kyū, Jōyō)^{←きう (kiu, historical)}
• Kun: ここの (kokono, 九, Jōyō)、ここのつ (kokonotsu, 九つ, Jōyō)
• Nanori: いちじく (ichijiku)、いちのく (ichinoku)、この (kono)、ひさし (hisashi)

From Middle Chinese 九 (MC kjuwX). The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing. Borrowed after palatalization occurred in Middle Chinese. Compare modern Hakka 九 (giu³).

• (Tokyo) きゅう [kyúꜜù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [kʲɨː]

九(きゅう) • (kyū) ^{←きう (kiu)?}

1. nine

九(きゅう) • (kyū) ^{←きう (kiu)?}

1. nine
2. 究: an indeterminate large number, a myriad, a great many
3. (divination) the number of yang, in opposition to 六 (roku, “six”) as the number of yin

From Early Middle Chinese 九 (MC kjuwX). The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

• (Tokyo) く [kúꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟]

九(く) • (ku) 

1. nine
2. ninth

• Sometimes considered unlucky due to being homophonous with 苦 (ku, “suffering”).

九(く) • (ku) 

1. nine
2. the ninth

From Old Japanese from Proto-Japonic *kəkənə.

First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.^[2]

• (Tokyo) ここの [kòkóꜜnò] (Nakadaka – [2])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞ko̞no̞]

九(ここの) • (kokono) 

1. nine

/kokono/ → /kono/

Abbreviation of Old Japanese 九 (kokono, “nine”).

• (Tokyo) この [kóꜜnò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞no̞]

九(この) • (kono) 

1. nine

   ひい、ふう、みい、…なな、やあ、この、とお

   hī, fū, mī,…nana, yā, kono, tō

   one, two, three, ... seven, eight, nine, ten

• Generally only used when counting out loud, as in the example above. In writing, usually found spelled out in hiragana as この to make the reading unambiguous.

• “You can count on the tales behind number-kanji”, in The Japan Times‎^[2], 2010 March 17, archived from the original on 2014-12-21

From Middle Chinese 九 (MC kjuwX).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ku]
• Phonetic hangul: [구]

Wikisource

九 (eumhun 아홉 구 (ahop gu))

1. hanja form^? of 구 (“nine”)

Related to Middle Chinese 糾 (MC kjiwX).

九 (eumhun 모을 규 (mo'eul gyu))

1. (archaic) hanja form^? of 규 (“to gather; to collect”)

• 규합 (九合/糾合, gyuhap)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

九: Hán Việt readings: cửu^[1][2]
九: Nôm readings: cửu^[1][3][4]

1. Chữ Hán form of cửu (“nine”).

九

1. Sawndip form of gyaeuj (“head; headhair”)