九（く・きゅう）
JLPT N5 · noun
Meaning: 9 (nine)
Etymology
Loanword from Chinese “jiǔ”.
Example sentences
- 九時から仕事が始まる。 — Work starts at nine o'clock.
- あと九分で電車が来る。 — The train will arrive in nine minutes.
Idioms & proverbs containing “九”
- 九層の台は累土より起こる (きゅうそうのうてなはるいどよりおこる) — many a little makes a mickle; every little helps; the tower of nine storeys (stories) rose from a small heap of earth
- 百里を行く者は九十を半ばとす (ひゃくりをゆくものはくじゅうをなかばとす) — don't count your chickens before they're hatched; there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip; consider a journey of 100 ri to be halfway completed at 90
- 九死一生 (きゅうしいっしょう) — narrow escape from the jaw of death
- 九寸五分 (くすんごぶ) — dagger
- 九分九厘 (くぶくりん) — almost certainly; in all probability; ten to one; in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
- 三拝九拝 (さんぱいきゅうはい) — kowtowing; bowing repeatedly; three kneelings and nine prostrations
Related words
See it used in real works
- Example sentences from Japanese novels & web fiction (Massif)
- Hear “九” pronounced in real videos (YouGlish)