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• nona
  nona

  noun

  sleeping sickness.
• nona-
  nona-

  a combining form meaning “nine, ninth,” used in the formation of compound words.

nona

¹ American  

[noh-nuh] / ˈnoʊ nə /

noun

Pathology.

1. sleeping sickness.

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nona- ² American  

1. a combining form meaning “nine, ninth,” used in the formation of compound words.

   nonagon.

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nona- British  

combining form

1. nine

   nonagon

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Usage

What does nona- mean? Nona- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “nine” or “ninth.” It is used in a number of scientific and other technical terms. In chemistry, nona- is specifically used to indicate nine atoms or nine groups of atoms in compounds, e.g., nonapeptide. Nona- comes from the Latin nōnus, meaning “ninth.” The word noon also derives from the Latin nōna hōra, the “ninth hour” from sunrise. That means 12 o’clock noon was originally 3 p.m!The Greek word for “nine” is ennéa, source of the combining form ennea-, which you can learn more about in our Words That Use article for the form. What are variants of nona-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, nona- becomes non-, as in nonyl alcohol. However, in a great many more instances, the letters non- at the beginning of a word are the prefix non-, meaning "not," as in nonabrasive or nonacademic.

Etymology

Origin of nona

< Latin nōna ( hōra ) ninth (hour); i.e., late stage in life of patient