neun (German)
Where does "neun" come from?
The German word "neun" carries a history that stretches back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root "*h₁néwn̥." This term transitioned into Proto-Germanic as "*newun" before evolving further in Old High German to become the word used in modern German today. It shares a common ancient ancestor with many other Germanic languages, including the English "nine" and the Dutch "negen."
Full etymology tree
- neun (German), 'nine (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 9; or this many dots: •••••••••)'
- inherited niun (Old High German), 'nine'
- inherited *neun (Proto-West Germanic), 'nine'
- inherited *newun (Proto-Germanic), 'nine'
- derived *newunt (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *h₁néwn̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'nine'
- derived *néwos (Proto-Indo-European), 'new'
- derived *en (Proto-Indo-European)
- influence *tehun (Proto-Germanic), 'ten'
- inherited *h₁néwn̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'nine'
- derived *newunt (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *newun (Proto-Germanic), 'nine'
- inherited *neun (Proto-West Germanic), 'nine'
- inherited niun (Old High German), 'nine'
Ancestors
- niun (Old High German)
- *newun (Proto-Germanic)
- *h₁néwn̥ (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- ni (Danish)
- negen (Dutch)
- nine (English)
- negen (German Low German)
- 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (Gothic)
- njoggen (West Frisian)
Descendants and derived words
- mein Vater erklärt mir jeden Sonntag unsere neun Planeten (German)
- Neun (German)
- Neuneck (German)
- neunfach (German)
- neunmal (German)
- neuntägig (German)
- neunte (German)
- neunzig (German)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris