German

Noun

Phi n ‎(genitive Phi or Phis, plural Phis)

1. phi (Greek letter)

Declension

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [fi˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [fɪj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [fɪj˧˥]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 非, as in 非洲. Also seen as a shortening of Phi châu or châu Phi ‎(“Africa”).

Adjective

Phi

1. African

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 飛

Proper noun

Phi

1. A male given name

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 菲, as in 菲律賓. Also seen as a shortening of Phi Luật Tân.

Adjective

Phi

1. Philippine

English

Ancient Greek Alphabet

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

Noun

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.

Translations

See also

• (Greek letter): Previous: upsilon, Next: chi

Anagrams

• hip HIP

References

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

French

Noun

phi m ‎(plural phi)

1. phi (Greek letter)

Italian

Noun

phi m ‎(invariable)

1. phi (Greek letter)

Portuguese

Noun

phi m (plural phi)

1. Obsolete spelling of fi (used in Portugal until September 1911 and died out in Brazil during the 1920s).

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [fi˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [fɪj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [fɪj˧˥]

Etymology 1

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

Verb

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

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 非 (“not”)

Prefix

phi ‎(非)

1. not, without, -less

Usage notes

Phi and vô are used before Sino-Vietnamese nouns, whereas không is used before native Vietnamese nouns. Bất is used before Sino-Vietnamese adjectives and adverbs.

Synonyms

• (not): vô, không, bất

Derived terms

Conjunction

phi

1. if it isn't

   Phi anh ấy, không ai biết.‎

   If it isn't him, then who knows?

Etymology 3

Verb

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.

Etymology 4

Noun

(classifier con) phi

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

Etymology 5

Borrowing from Latin phi

Noun

phi

1. phi (Φ)

Etymology 6

Sino-Vietnamese word from 妃

Noun

(classifier bà) phi

1. concubine

   các bà phi trong cung‎

   the palace concubines

Synonyms

• (concubine): vợ lẽ, vợ bé, phi tần

Derived terms

Etymology 7

Romanization

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 駓
11. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 馡
12. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 䬠
13. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 胚
14. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 纰
15. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 屝
16. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 披
17. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 椪
18. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 鲱
19. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 狉
20. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 邳
21. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 披
22. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 騑
23. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 䲹
24. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 痱
25. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 㔻
26. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 飞
27. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 疿
28. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 伾
29. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 鯡
30. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 旇
31. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 䬠
32. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 扉
33. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 铍
34. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 緋
35. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 铍
36. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 䲹
37. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 腓
38. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 鈹
39. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 狔
40. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 蜚
41. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 飛
42. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 𩣚
43. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 泝
44. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 鉟
45. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 非
46. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 啡
47. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 秠
48. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 苤
49. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 𠃧
50. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 泝
51. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 駓
52. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 绯
53. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 𩙱
54. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 丕
55. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 菲
56. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 裶
57. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 呸
58. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 魾
59. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 姼
60. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 魾
61. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 批

Derived terms

• Bột Phi
• Hàn Phi
• hoàng phi
• hoành phi
• Phi Lai Giang
• Phi Liêm

See also

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

References

• "phi" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)
• Lê Sơn Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)

Zulu

Adjective

-phi

1. which

Inflection