"To the nines" is an

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...

meaning "to perfection" or "to the highest degree". In modern English usage, the phrase most commonly appears as "dressed to the nines" or "dressed up to the nines".

Origin

The phrase is said to be Scots in origin. The earliest written example of the phrase is from the 1719 ''Epistle to Ramsay'' by the Scottish poet William Hamilton: The bonny Lines therein thou sent me, How to the nines they did content me. Robert Burns' "Poem on Pastoral Poetry", published in 1791, also uses the phrase: Thou paints auld nature to the nines, In thy sweet Caledonian lines. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (New and Revised edition. 1981) states that the phrase is 'perhaps a corruption of 'then eyne' (to the eyes)" The phrase may have originally been associated with the Nine Worthies or the nine

Muses In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the p ...

. A poem from a 17th century collection of works by

John Rawlet John Rawlet or Rawlett (27 March 1642–28 September 1686) was an English Anglican cleric, known as a preacher and writer of religious literature, and for his close sympathy with Presbyterians. Life Baptised at Tamworth in Warwickshire on 27 Mar ...

contains the following lines: The learned tribe whose works the World do bless, Finish those works in some recess; Both the Philosopher and Divine, And Poets most who still make their address In private to the Nine.

References

{{reflist English phrases