fi

fi U+FB01, fi LATIN SMALL LIGATURE FI ← ff [U+FB00] Alphabetic Presentation Forms fl → [U+FB02]

See also: Fi, FI, fi-, .fi, fi., fí, and Appendix:Variations of "fi"

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: fē, fī, IPA^(key): /fiː/, /faɪ/
• Rhymes: -iː, -aɪ
• Homophones: fee or fie

Etymology 1

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

Noun

fi

1. (music) The solfeggio syllable used to indicate the sharp of the fourth note of a major scale.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation

Noun

fi (uncountable)

1. (in combination) Abbreviation of fidelity. (e.g. in hi-fi or wi-fi)
2. (in combination) Abbreviation of fiction. (e.g. in sci-fi)

Etymology 3

The word if spelled backwards, introduced in the ALGOL 68 Report (1968) as a terminator for an if clause.

Conjunction

fi

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (computer science) Reserved word, in some programming languages, signaling the end of an "if" program instruction.

   In ALGOL 68 the if clause must be terminated by fi (which is if spelt backwards).

Synonyms

• endif, end-if

References

fi at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• IF, if

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Bourguignon

Etymology

From Latin filius.

Noun

fi m (plural fis)

1. son

Derived terms

• filleu
• fillôt

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈfi/

Etymology 1

From Old Occitan fin, from Latin fīnis.

Noun

fi f (plural fins)

1. finish; the end

Derived terms

• a la fi
• al cap i a la fi
• en fi
• fi de segle
• fins i tot
• per fi

 

Etymology 2

From the same source as the above (with similar occurrences in most Romance languages), or less likely, possibly originally from fidus, which also gave Old Occitan fi, phonetically.

Adjective

fi (feminine fina, masculine plural fins, feminine plural fines)

1. fine, thin
2. soft, smooth
3. sharp, keen

Derived terms

• finament
• finesa
• finor

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin phi, from Ancient Greek φεῖ (pheî).

Noun

fi f (plural fis)

1. Phi; the Greek letter Φ (lowercase φ).

Further reading

• “fi” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “fi” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “fi” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Esperanto

Etymology

From French fi.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Interjection

fi

1. For shame!

   "Jes, mi frapis mian frateton kaj mi ne bedaŭras ĝin!" "Ho, fi!"

   "Yes, I hit my little brother and I'm not sorry about it!" "Oh, for shame!"

   Fi al vi! ― Shame on you!

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Fas

Noun

fi

1. water

References

• ASJP, citing W. Baron, Kwomtari Survey (1983, SIL)

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French

Etymology

Imitative.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi/

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

• Homophones: fie, fient, fies

Interjection

fi

1. (archaic) faugh, fie, bah, pooh

Derived terms

• faire fi
• faire fi de

Further reading

• “fi” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Friulian

Etymology

From Latin fīlius.

Noun

fi m (plural fis)

1. son

Related terms

• fie
• fioç

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Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French fille (“girl, daughter”).

Noun

fi

1. girl
2. daughter

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Hungarian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -fi

Etymology 1

See under fiú.

Noun

fi (plural fiak)

1. (archaic, today only in compounds) son, child, offspring (of a human or an animal)

   Synonym: fiú

2. (archaic, today only in compounds) a smaller part of a building or a piece of furniture, cf. fiók (“drawer”)

Declension

The accusative and the plural form can also be fiat and fiak, respectively, although fit, fik (the shorter versions) are more usual here.

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	fi	fik
accusative	fit	fikat
dative	finak	fiknak
instrumental	fival	fikkal
causal-final	fiért	fikért
translative	fivá	fikká
terminative	fiig	fikig
essive-formal	fiként	fikként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	fiban	fikban
superessive	fin	fikon
adessive	finál	fiknál
illative	fiba	fikba
sublative	fira	fikra
allative	fihoz	fikhoz
elative	fiból	fikból
delative	firól	fikról
ablative	fitól	fiktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	fié	fiké
non-attributive possessive - plural	fiéi	fikéi

Inflection (stem in -a-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	fi	fiak
accusative	fiat	fiakat
dative	finak	fiaknak
instrumental	fival	fiakkal
causal-final	fiért	fiakért
translative	fivá	fiakká
terminative	fiig	fiakig
essive-formal	fiként	fiakként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	fiban	fiakban
superessive	fin	fiakon
adessive	finál	fiaknál
illative	fiba	fiakba
sublative	fira	fiakra
allative	fihoz	fiakhoz
elative	fiból	fiakból
delative	firól	fiakról
ablative	fitól	fiaktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	fié	fiaké
non-attributive possessive - plural	fiéi	fiakéi

The possessive-suffixed forms can also be fim etc., although the fiam etc. forms (the longer versions) are more usual here.

Possessive forms of fi
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	fiam	fiaim
2nd person sing.	fiad	fiaid
3rd person sing.	fia	fiai
1st person plural	fiunk	fiaink
2nd person plural	fiatok	fiaitok
3rd person plural	fiuk	fiaik

Possessive forms of fi
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	fim	fiaim
2nd person sing.	fid	fiaid
3rd person sing.	fija	fiai
1st person plural	fink	fiaink
2nd person plural	fitok	fiaitok
3rd person plural	fijuk	fiaik

Derived terms

Compound words with this term at the beginning

• fiók

 

Compound words with this term at the end

• atyafi
• baromfi
• divatfi
• egyházfi
• hadfi
• harcfi
• hazafi
• honfi
• királyfi
• kurafi
• múzsafi
• nyúlfi
• rókafi
• szerencsefi
• úrfi
• világfi

Etymology 2

Interjection

fi

1. (rare, literary) yuck, ugh, boo (expression of disgust or contempt, sometimes like a symbolic spitting)

   Synonyms: fuj, pfuj

Etymology 3

From Latin phi, from Ancient Greek φεῖ (pheî).

Noun

fi (plural fik) (the plural form is rare)

1. Phi; the Greek letter Φ (lowercase φ).

Declension

(suffixed forms are rare)

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	fi	fik
accusative	fit	fiket
dative	finek	fiknek
instrumental	fivel	fikkel
causal-final	fiért	fikért
translative	fivé	fikké
terminative	fiig	fikig
essive-formal	fiként	fikként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	fiben	fikben
superessive	fin	fiken
adessive	finél	fiknél
illative	fibe	fikbe
sublative	fire	fikre
allative	fihez	fikhez
elative	fiből	fikből
delative	firől	fikről
ablative	fitől	fiktől
non-attributive possessive - singular	fié	fiké
non-attributive possessive - plural	fiéi	fikéi

Further reading

• (son): fi in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (yuck): fi in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

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Jamaican Creole

Etymology

From English for.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪ/
• Hyphenation: fi

Preposition

fi

1. for
   • 2016, Sylvia Gilfillian, The Road to Timnath: Di Ruod Tu Timnat, →ISBN:

     “A wanda how dem come fi tink dat di trial a di pastor is a fittin event fi a pikni witness. […] ”

     I asked myself how they could possibly think that the pastor's trial would be an appropriate event for children to see. […]

   Mi head a hot mi. Yuh have supn can gimme fi it?

   I have a headache. Can you give me something for the pain?

2. (+ infinitive) to
   • 2016, Sylvia Gilfillian, The Road to Timnath: Di Ruod Tu Timnat, →ISBN:

     “Me look up to di platform and see about eight wooden chairs up deh. Me eyeball dem fi see which wan a dem me kuda move because some a dem carve outa solid wood and look well heavy. […] ”

     I looked up at the platform and saw about eight wooden chairs up there. I studied them to see which one I could move because some of them were made of solid wood and looked extremely heavy. […]

   Wi wah fi know wah gwaan.

   We want to know what's going on.

3. (interrogative) (+ infinitive) can
   • 2018, Shelley Sykes-Coley, Chat ’Bout!: An Anthology of Jamaican Conversations, →ISBN:

     “How unnu fi walk an' nyam, an' litter di street?
     Mi jus' cyaan andastan' how unno fi dweet. […] ”

     How can you walk and eat, and throw litter in the street?
     I just can't understand how you can do it. […]

   How dem fi do dat?

   How can they do a thing like that?

4. (+ infinitive) should
   • 2013, Selvin McRae, The Guilty Truth Revealed, →ISBN, page 108:

     “Mi pickney unnu fi look n love nuff money
     Horse pon track cah gallop without money […] ”

     My children, you should seek and desire a lot of money
     A horse on a track can't race without money […]

   Im fi tap it. It a guh mash 'im up.

   He/She should stop doing that. It's going to wreck him/her.

Further reading

• Richard Allsopp (main editor), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, 2003 (reprint by The University of the West Indies Press, originally 1996 by Oxford University Press), ISBN 9789766401450 (originally ISBN-10: 976-640-145-4), page 229
• fi – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary

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Japanese

Romanization

fi

1. Rōmaji transcription of ふぃ
2. Rōmaji transcription of フィ

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /fiː/, [fiː]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /fi/, [fi]

Interjection

fī

1. pah!, pooh!, foh!, bah!, an expression of disgust

   Fi, fi fetet!

   Pah, it stinks!

Descendants

• English: fy, fie

Verb

fī

1. second-person singular present passive imperative of faciō

References

• fi in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• fi in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fi
• Rhymes: -i

Noun

fi n (indeclinable)

1. Alternative spelling of phi.

Further reading

• fi in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• fi in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• phi (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi/
• Rhymes: -i

Noun

fi m (plural fi)

1. phi (name of the Greek letter Φ)

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Romanian

Alternative forms

• фи (Moldovan Cyrillic spelling)

Etymology

Suppletive verb formed from Latin sum, fuī, with the infinitive and subjunctive forms replaced by fierī, present active infinitive of fīō. Latin sum derives from Proto-Italic *ezom, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“He is, he exists”), while fīō and fuī both derive from Proto-Italic *fuiō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fi]

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

a fi (third-person singular present este or e, past participle fost) 4th conj.

1. (with a predicate adjective or predicate nominative) to be

   Ea este frumoasă. ― She is beautiful.

   Aceasta este o casă. ― This is a house.

2. (with a predicate adjective and an indirect object) to feel (to experience a certain condition)

   Îmi e frig. ― I feel cold. (literally, “To me is cold.”)

   Îmi este rău. ― I feel sick.

Usage notes

• One can also use e as an informal variant of the third-person singular present tense, este.
• The second entries in the simple perfect row represent the informal variants.

Conjugation

Conjugation of fi (fourth conjugation)

infinitive			a fi
gerund			fiind
past participle			fost
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	sunt	ești	este, e	suntem	sunteți	sunt
	imperfect	eram	erai	era	eram	erați	erau
	simple perfect	fusei, fui	fuseși, fuși	fuse, fu	fuserăm, furăm	fuserăți, furăți	fuseră, fură
	pluperfect	fusesem	fuseseși	fusese	fuseserăm	fuseserăți	fuseseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să fiu	să fii	să fie	să fim	să fiți	să fie
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		fii			fiți
	negative		nu fi			nu fiți

• Additionally there are sînt, sîntem, sînteți for sunt, suntem, sunteți, see the usage notes in sunt for more.

Derived terms

• ființă
• fiindcă
• fire

References

• fi in DEX online - Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

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Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun) fieu
• (Sursilvan) fiug
• (Sutsilvan) fia, fiac
• (Puter, Vallader) fö

Etymology

From Latin focus (“hearth, fireplace”).

Noun

fi m

1. (Surmiran) fire

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfi/, [ˈfi]
• Rhymes: -i

Noun

fi f (plural fíes)

1. phi; the Greek letter Φ, φ

Further reading

• “fi” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

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Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /viː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *mī.

Pronoun

fi

1. I, me

See also

• i (“I, me”)
• mi (“I, me”)

Etymology 2

Noun

fi f (plural fiau, not mutable)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter V.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) llythyren; a, bi, ec, èch, di, èdd, e, èf, èff, èg, eng, aetsh, i/i dot, je, ce, el, èll, em, en, o, pi, ffi, ciw, er, rhi, ès, ti, èth, u/u bedol, fi, w, ecs, y, sèd ^{(Category: cy:Latin letter names)}

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Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fí/

Noun

fí

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) lẹ́tà; á, bí, dí, é, ẹ́, fí, gí, gbì, hí, í, jí, kí, lí, mí, ní, ó, ọ́, pí, rí, sí, ṣí, tí, ú, wí, yí

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fi/

Verb

fi

1. (auxiliary verb) to use something to do something else (must be used with another verb)

Usage notes

This verb cannot be used on its own with an object and must be used with a second verb to show purpose. In the case of simply using an object without any purpose, lò must be used instead.

1. "Mo fi ṣíbí jẹ ìrẹsì." – I used a spoon to eat rice. (uses a second verb, jẹ, along with fi)
2. "Mo lo ṣíbí." – I used a spoon. (uses lò, changed to lo before an object noun, since there's no second verb for purpose)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fí/

Verb

fí

1. (transitive) to swing
2. (transitive) to swirl, to centrifuge