nonuplet
noun

- each of nine siblings resulting from a single pregnancy (usually in plural)

- music group of nine notes to be performed in the time of eight or six

- a multiplet of nine subatomic particles; an aggregate of nine components

The Oxford Dictionary

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ORIGIN

Late 19th century; earliest use found in John Stainer (1840–1901), musicologist and composer. From classical Latin nōnus ninth + -plet.

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MAXIMUM MULTIPLE BIRTHS

Two sets of nonuplets have previously been recorded - one born to a woman in Australia in 1971 and another to a woman in Malaysia in 1999 - but none of the babies survived more than a few days.

The previous world record holder Nadya Suleman’s octuplets have grown up and are now 12 years old. They were conceived through in vitro fertilisation.

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DO YOU KNOW YOUR PLETS?

Only child, twins, then... triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets*, sextuplets, septuplets, octuplets, nonuplets,... and decaplets (so far unknown in humans).

*quintuplets are sometimes referred to as “quins” in the UK and “quints” in North America. They occur naturally only 1 in 55,000,000 births.

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THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

Three Identical Strangers is an award-winning 2018 documentary film directed by Tim Wardle. It concerns the lives of Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran, a set of identical triplets adopted as infants by separate families.

Combining archival footage, re-enacted scenes, and present-day interviews, the film recounts how the brothers discovered one another by chance at age 19. They eventually discovered that their adoption had been part of an undisclosed scientific “nature versus nurture” study.

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THANKS to Jacky for suggesting today’s word.

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PRACTICE OWAD in an English conversation, say something like:

“Today's Owad is NONUPLETS, it concerns an astonishing medical phenomenon.”

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith