phi

American  

[fahy] / faɪ /

noun

plural

phis

1. the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet (Φ, φ).

2. the consonant sound represented by this letter.

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phi British  

/ faɪ /

noun

1. the 21st letter in the Greek alphabet (Φ, φ), a consonant, transliterated as ph or f

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Example Sentences

The theorists had missed something big: Electromagnetic fields may not be strong enough to affect the phi mesons’ spin, but what about fields generated by the strong force?

From Scientific American

If you divide 'a' by 'b' and 'a'-plus-'b' by 'a,' you get phi, which is roughly 1.618.

From Salon

Literally full of sigmas, phis, omegas and other symbols.

From Washington Times

Having seen the alpha and omega of the series, I'm eager to see the gamma, delta, epsilon and phi, or whichever intermediate Greek letters you want to represent those four other episodes.

From Los Angeles Times

In modern Greek, phi sounds like “f,” but it is usually transliterated from ancient Greek as “ph.”

From The New Yorker