CS Knowledge Base

phi

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Philippine languages.

Ancient Greek alphabet

← upsilon		→ chi
Φ φ Ancient Greek: φεῖ
Wikipedia article on phi

From Late Latin phi, from Ancient Greek φεῖ (pheî).^[1]

• IPA^(key): /faɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -aɪ
  • Homophone: fie
• IPA^(key): /fiː/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -iː
  • Homophone: fee

phi (plural phis)

2. Φ, the 21st letter of the Euclidean and modern Greek alphabet, usually romanized as "ph".
3. (mathematics) The golden ratio.
4. A visual illusion whereby a sequential pattern of lights produces a false sense of motion.
   • 1963, Psychology Through Experiment (George Humphrey, Jaroslav Antonio Deutsch), page 90:

     […] tolerance (Frenkel-Brunswik 1949) for it showed that those persons with the strongest defences against internal conflict, i.e. obsessionals and conversion hysterics, were those least able to perceive the reality-conflicting phenomenon of phi.

   • 2007, Wayne Weiten, Psychology: Themes and Variations: Themes And Variations, page 138:

     The illusion of movement in a highway construction sign is an instance of the phi phenomenon, which is also at work in motion pictures and television.

   • 2013, Francis Glebas, The Animator's Eye: Composition and Design, page 66:

     Is it the phi phenomenon or the persistence of vision? Originally, the illusion of motion that movies excel at was thought to be the effect of the persistence of vision.

• (Greek-script letter names) alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, mu, nu, xi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tau, upsilon, phi, chi, psi, omega

• HIP, PIH, hip

• fi

From Ancient Greek φεῖ (pheî).

• IPA^(key): /fi/

• Audio:

  (file)

phi m or f (plural phi's, diminutive phi'tje n)

1. phi (letter of the Greek alphabet)

• phi on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

• IPA^(key): /fi/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

phi m (invariable)

1. phi (Greek letter)

• “phi”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• IPA^(key): /ˈfi/
• Rhymes: -i

phi m (invariable)

1. phi (Greek letter)

Onomatopoeic.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpxi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: phi

phi

1. huh, pooh used to express dismissal, contempt, impatience, etc.

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek φεῖ (pheî).

• fi

• IPA^(key): /ˈfi/
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: phi

phi n (indeclinable)

1. phi (Greek letter Φ, φ)

• “phi”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “phi”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)

phi m (invariable)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of fi

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [fi˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [fɪj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [fɪj˧˧]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 飛 (“to fly; to gallop”).

phi

1. (of a horse) to gallop

   Ngựa phi.

   The horse gallops.

2. to flee; to travel very quickly

   Phi nhanh về nhà kẻo tối.

   Hurry home before it gets dark.

3. to lance (to throw in the manner of a lance)

   phi dao găm

   to throw a dagger

Sino-Vietnamese word from 非 (“not”).

phi (非)

1. non-, in-

   phi (chính) nghĩa

   unjust; for an unjustifiable cause

   phi phàm

   inhuman; extraordinary

phi

1. if it isn't

   Phi anh ấy, không ai biết.

   If it isn't him, then who knows?

phi

1. to stir-fry (an onion, scallion, or clove of garlic) before preparing a dish

   Phi tỏi rồi mới bỏ rau muống vào.

   Stir-fry the garlic before adding in water spinach.

   Phi hành để nấu nước chấm.

   Stir-fry the onion to make dipping sauce.

(classifier con) phi

1. Various species of saltwater clam of the genus Sanguinolaria, such as Sanguinolaria diphos and Sanguinolaria planculata.

Borrowed from Latin phi.

phi

1. phi (Φ)

Sino-Vietnamese word from 妃.

phi

1. concubines, mistresses, ladies of a monarch.

   các bà phi trong cung

   the palace concubines

2. wives, consorts of a junior monarch such as a prince.

   vương phi, vương tử phi, hoàng tử phi

   the queen consort, the royal princess consort, the imperial princess consort

• (concubine): vợ lẽ, vợ bé, phi tần
• (consort): vợ

Sino-Vietnamese reading of various Chinese characters.

phi

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 妃
2. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 痱
3. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 不
4. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 霏
5. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 髬
6. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 腓
7. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 斐
8. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 丕
9. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 蜚
10. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 披
11. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 騑
12. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 鯡
13. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 扉
14. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 緋
15. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 飛
16. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 非
17. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 紕
18. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 菲
19. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 呸

• phi-la-tốp
• phi lao, phi-lao
• phi lê, phi-lê (“fillet”)
• phi-nan (“finale”)
• phi-năng (“finance”)
• phương phi

• Hồ Ngọc Đức, editor (2003), “phi”, in Việt–Việt‎^[3] (DICT), Leipzig: Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details), archived from the original on 12 November 2024
• Lê Sơn Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-phi^?

1. which

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “phi”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “phi”