adverb
nearly; almost; eight or nine parts out of ten
Rare literary adverb meaning 'almost entirely' or 'for the most part'. Literally 'eight or nine parts out of ten'. Modern Japanese normally uses ほとんど, ほぼ, or 九分通り instead.
See also: 九分通り
昔の文献には「八九分できあがった」のような表現が見られる。
In old documents, expressions like 'it was nearly finished' can be found.
ほとんど is the standard modern word for 'almost' or 'nearly', used in all registers. 八九分 is a rare literary alternative.
Compound of 八 (eight), 九 (nine), and 分 (part), literally 'eight or nine parts out of ten'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it follows a common pattern of using numbers to express approximate proportions.