ninety

[nahyn-tee]

noun, plural nine·ties.

a cardinal number, ten times nine.
a symbol for this number, as 90 or XC.
a set of this many persons or things.

nineties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 90 through 99, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or degrees of temperature: His grandmother is in her nineties.

adjective

amounting to 90 in number.

Origin of ninety

before 1000; Middle English nineti, Old English nigontig. See nine, -ty¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for ninety

Contemporary Examples of ninety

Ninety percent of women waiters get harassed sexually, according to a recent study.
Why Your Waiter Hates You
Jedediah Purdy
October 26, 2014
Ninety minutes later, Scheunemann told the organizers of the ski club about the chairlift incident.
A Racist’s Crazy Ski Resort Smackdown
James Kirchick
October 18, 2014
There only be nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety pound here.
Inside London’s Wild Brixton Academy: How Gangsters and Kurt Cobain Made It London’s Top Music Venue
Tom Sykes
September 29, 2014
Ninety miles from American shores, the Castro family rules over the island prison of Cuba guided by communist principles.
Communism's Victims Deserve a Museum
James Kirchick
August 25, 2014
At Space Ninety 8, you can sport your hipster badge with pride.
Where to Eat and Shop in NYC…All in One Spot
Valeriya Safronova
June 4, 2014

Historical Examples of ninety

Do you mean that you have earned ninety cents to-day, Robert?
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
The marketman handed Robert ninety cents, which he pocketed with satisfaction.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
Diablo's got ninety to carry, an' he gave the other twenty pounds to-day.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
Would not any one think, now, you were an old man of ninety?
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
The wood, therefore, was perhaps eighty or ninety years old.
The Village Watch-Tower
(AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin

British Dictionary definitions for ninety

ninety

noun plural -ties

the cardinal number that is the product of ten and nineSee also number (def. 1)
a numeral, 90, XC, etc, representing this number
something represented by, representing, or consisting of 90 units

determiner

1. amounting to ninetyninety times out of a hundred
2. (as pronoun)at least ninety are thought to be missing

Word Origin for ninety

Old English nigontig

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ninety

Old English nigontig, from nine + -tig "group of ten" (see -ty (1)). Cognate with Old Frisian niontich, Middle Dutch negentich, Dutch negentig, German neunzig.