phi - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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]

phi (plural phis)

  1. Φ, the 21st letter of the Euclidean and modern Greek alphabet, usually romanized as "ph".
  2. (mathematics) The golden ratio.
  3. 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 letter

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. "phi, n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2005.

From Ancient Greek φεῖ (pheî).

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

  1. phi (letter of the Greek alphabet)

phi m (invariable)

  1. phi (Greek letter)

phi m (invariable)

  1. phi (Greek letter)

Onomatopoeic.

phi

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

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek φεῖ (pheî).

phi n (indeclinable)

  1. phi (Greek letter Φ, φ)

phi m (invariable)

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

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 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

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

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

-phi?

  1. which