chi1
[kahy]
- the twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet (X, χ).
- the consonant sound represented by this letter.
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Origin of chi1
From Greek
chi2
[chee]
- qi.
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Chi
[chahy]
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Origin of Chi
by shortening
qi
[chœ]
- (in traditional Chinese medicine and philosophy) the vital life force that flows through the body and is supposedly regulated by acupuncture.
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Also Wade-Giles, chi.
Origin of qi
From the Chinese word qì breath
Ch'i
[chyee]
- one of two dynasties that ruled in China a.d. 479–502 and, as the Northern Ch'i, a.d. 550–77.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for chi
Contemporary Examples
Instead of a corsage, he brought me a plastic duck he'd stolen from a Chi Chi's restaurant.
By now I'm so overwrought with chi's and fu's and kong's and kung's that my eyes have about crossed.
The Stacks: The Neville Brothers Stake Their Claim as Bards of the BayouJohn Ed Bradley
April 27, 2014
In Chobits, hapless waiter Hideki ends up purchasing a “persocom,” an android called Chi, and slowly falls in love with her.
Chi, like Samantha (Scarlett Johannson), ends up becoming a transcendent being that threatens her relationship with a human.
Alfonso Signorini, editor of Chi magazine, has defended his decision to print the images.
Historical Examples
Me and my buddies, we just come back from fighting in Chi, Gerri.
MutineerRobert J. Shea
Chicago came to be so common a word that they began to call it "Chi."
Negro Migration during the WarEmmett J. Scott
When he was steward of the Chi, Chung-kung asked how to rule.
The Sayings Of ConfuciusConfucius
Chi Huan accepted them, and for three days no court was held.
The Sayings Of ConfuciusConfucius
He gave forth the last cry with all his might, emphasising the “chi—or!”
The Crystal HuntersGeorge Manville Fenn
chi1
- the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet (Χ, χ), a consonant, transliterated as ch or rarely kh
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chi2
ch'i or qi
- (sometimes capital) (in Oriental medicine, martial arts, etc) vital energy believed to circulate round the body in currents
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Word Origin
Chinese, literally: energy
qi
- a variant of chi 2
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for chi
n.
22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, representing a -kh- sound (see ch). The letter is shaped like an X, and so the Greek letter name was used figuratively to signify such a shape or arrangement (e.g. khiasma "two things placed crosswise;" khiastos "arranged diagonally; marked with an X;" khiazein "to mark with an 'X', to write the letter 'X'"). Some dialects used chi to represent the -ks- sound properly belonging to xi; Latin picked this up and the sound value of chi in Latin-derived alphabets is now that of English X.
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qi
n.
"physical life force," 1850, from Chinese qi "air, breath."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper