Word.ws English Dictionary

ennead

Syllables: en·ne·ad/ˈɛnɪad/

ennead noun: the number nine.

Noun (1)

ennead (plural 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...1816, Proclus, chapter XXXI, in Thomas Taylor, transl., The Six Books of Proclus the Platonic Successor, on the Theology of Plato, Translated from the Greek; […] Two Volumes, volume II, London...
    • [T]he ennead is subtracted for this cause, because the three hundred and sixty parts of the entire [circle] consist of enneads, and for this reason the four regions of the world are circumscribed by ninety perfect parts.1868, Hippolytus, J[ohn] H[enry] MacMahon, chapter XLIII, in Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, editors, The Refutation of All Heresies, […] (Ante-Nicene Christian Library: […]; VI (Hippolytus...
  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...1852, Edward Greswell, “On the Lunar in Contradistinction to the Solar Modifications of the Primitive Calendar”, in Fasti Temporis Catholici and Origines Kalendariæ. … In Four Volumes, volume I...
    • The exquisite language of the prophecy of Isaiah, especially in its last three enneads, may have had a nearer primary reference to, and a nearer fulfilment in, the return of the exiles under Zerubbabel, and Ezra, and Nehemiah; […]1882, The Church Quarterly Review, volume XIII, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, →OCLC, page 172

Proper noun capitalized: Ennead

Ennead

  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.

Noun (2) capitalized: Ennead

Ennead (plural 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, […]1662, Henry More, “An Appendix to the Defence of the Philosophick Cabbala”, in A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr Henry More, Fellow of Christ’s Colledge in Cambridge. […], 2nd...
    • [W]e find side by side in the Enneads the positive and negative conceptions of the One.1941 April, F[rederick] C[harles] Copleston, “The Architecture of the Intelligible Universe in the Philosophy of Plotinus. An Analytical and Historical Study. By A. H. Armstrong. Pp. xii + 126....

Examples of ennead in a sentence

  • The ennead, according to the Pythagoreans, circulates all numbers within itself, and there can be no number beyond it.1816, Proclus, chapter XXXI, in Thomas Taylor, transl., The Six Books of Proclus the Platonic Successor, on the Theology of Plato...
  • The most important ennead among the Babylonians was as follows:— […]1884, E[rnest] A[lfred] Wallis Budge, “The Babylonian Religion”, in Babylonian Life and History (By-paths of Bible Knowledge; V), London...

Synonyms of ennead

Forms of ennead

pluralenneads
pluralEnneads

Origin of ennead

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).

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

See ennead.

Words formed from ennead

Questions about ennead

What does ennead mean?
Ennead means the number nine.
How do you use ennead in a sentence?
The ennead, according to the Pythagoreans, circulates all numbers within itself, and there can be no number beyond it.
What part of speech is ennead?
Ennead can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce ennead?
Ennead is pronounced /ˈɛnɪad/ (UK).
What is the plural of ennead?
The plural of ennead is enneads.

Words near ennead in the dictionary

  1. enneacontahedra
  2. enneacontahedral
  3. enneacontahedron
  4. enneacontahexagon
  5. enneacontahexagons
  6. ennead
  7. enneadeca-
  8. enneadecaeteris
  9. enneadecagon
  10. enneadecagons
  11. enneadecahedra

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ennead (page history and authors); Ennead (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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