neuvième

Neuvième is the French ordinal numeral for the number nine, used to designate the position of an element in a sequence. It accompanies a noun to indicate order, as in le neuvième chapitre or la neuvième édition. The form is used with masculine or feminine nouns and appears in contexts such as dates, volumes, chapters, editions, and other ordered items. It is usually written as a single word and is pronounced [nø.vjɛm].

The word is formed from the cardinal neuf (nine) with the standard ordinal suffix -ième, following a regular pattern in French for ordinals. Like other ordinals, neuvième exists alongside exceptions such as premier/première, but it behaves as a typical -ième ordinal in most phrases.

A notable usage is the expression le neuvième art, a traditional designation for cinema, treating film as the ninth art. Other common occurrences include le neuvième siècle (the ninth century) and le neuvième jour (the ninth day), where the noun determines gender and number while neuvième remains the same form.

In practice, neuvième is part of the broader French system of ordinal numbers used to sequence elements, dates, and sections. It is cognate with equivalents in other Romance languages and is routinely encountered in literature, academics, and everyday writing.

See also: French ordinal numbers, French numerals, number naming in French.