Join free

ennead

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

ennead¹

  • /ˈɛnɪad/ US, UK

Where it comes from

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).

noun enneads

  1. obsolete The number nine. 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
  2. rare Any grouping or system containing nine objects. 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 p

Similar: nonad, nonet

Ennead²

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἐννεάς (Enneás), itself a calque of Egyptian psḏt (“nine, nineness, ennead”), from psḏw (“nine”).

proper noun

  1. Egyptian 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.

Ennead³

Where it comes from

See ennead.

noun Enneads

  1. 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, […]

Thesaurus

noun

Similar: nonad, nonet

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"ennead." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ennead. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ennead. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ennead

Chicago

"ennead." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ennead.

BibTeX
@misc{ennead_2026,
  title = {ennead},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ennead},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}