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Wiktionary

hi

See also: Hi, HI, hi-, hí, hÍ, ḥi, and Appendix:Variations of "hi"

Contents

English

Etymology 1

American English (first recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian), originally to attract attention, probably a variant of Middle English hy, hey (circa 1475) also an exclamation to call attention.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /haɪ/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Audio (UK)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪ
  • Homophones: Hi, hie, high

Interjection

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

hi

  1. A friendly, informal, casual greeting said when meeting someone.
    Hi, how are you?
    I just dropped by to say “hi”.
    • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      Anna: Pete, hi! Hi, we are here! — Pete: Hi, Anna! Hi, Marsha! — Anna: Hi! — Pete: How are you two? — Marsha: I am great!
      Audio (US)
      		(file)
  2. An exclamation to call attention.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
  3. (dated) Expressing wonder or derision.
Synonyms
  • (friendly informal greeting): hello
Translations

Noun

hi (plural his)

  1. The word "hi" used as a greeting.
    I didn't even get a hi.
Synonyms

Etymology 2

From high.

Adjective

hi

  1. Informal spelling of high, often hyphenated.
    Get hi-quality videos here!
Derived terms
Related terms

Anagrams

Albanian

Etymology

Tosk form of Gheg hî (pl. hin), from Proto-Albanian *skina, from *skines, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenHis (compare Latin cinis ‘dust; cinder’, Ancient Greek κόνις (kónis) ‘ashes; dust’).

Noun

hi m (definite singular hiri)

  1. ashes
Derived terms

Basque

Pronoun

hi

  1. you (singular, familiar)

Breton

Pronoun

hi

  1. she

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Catalan y, i, hic, from Latin hīc (“here”) and ibī (“there”). Compare French y.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi (enclitic and proclitic)

  1. represents a place associated with the action described by the verb, unless the place would be introduced by the preposition de
  2. there (in constructions such as "there is", "there are", etc.: see haver-hi)
  3. replaces an adverb (or adverbial phrase) describing the manner, instrument or association of an action
  4. replaces a phrase introduced by any preposition except de (most commonly a or en)
  5. replaces an indefinite noun or an adjective which is the predicate of a verb other than ésser, esdevenir, estar or semblar
  6. (Central Catalan) in combination with other object pronouns, the third-person singular indirect object pronoun ("to him", "to her", "to it")

Usage notes

  • When more than one object pronoun is associated with a given verb, hi is alway the last in the group.
  • Hi and ho cannot be used together with the same verb, nor can two his be used together.
  • It is sometimes stated that hi is never used to replace a compliment beginning with de. This is not completely accurate, as hi can replace adverbial phrases such as de pressa, de sobte, etc.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics
strong/subject weak (direct object) weak (indirect object) possessive
singular proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
1st person jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
1st person majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
2nd person formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person masculine ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person feminine ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
3rd person neuter ho -ho li -li seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person masculine ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person feminine elles les -les els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
adverbial
ablative/genitive en, n’ -ne, ’n
locative hi -hi
1) Behaves grammatically as plural.
2) Behaves grammatically as third person. 		3) Only as object of a preposition.
4) Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Cornish

Pronoun

hi

  1. she (third-person feminine singular personal pronoun).

Noun

hi

  1. Aspirate mutation of ki.

Danish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Norwegian hi, from Old Norse hið.

Noun

hi n (singular definite hiet, plural indefinite hier)

  1. winter quarters, winter lair (for hibernation); hibernation (used literally or figuratively)
    at gå i hi
    to enter hibernation
Declension
Declension of hi
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative hi hiet hier hierne
genitive his hiets hiers hiernes
Synonyms

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeia for laughter or giggling.

Interjection

hi

  1. (onomatopoeia) Signifies giggling.
See also

Fasu

Noun

hị

  1. (Namumi) Synonym of he

References

Japanese

Romanization

hi

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ひ
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ヒ

Latin

Pronoun

hī

  1. nominative masculine plural of hic

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic هِيَ‎ (hiya)

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi

  1. she

Inflection

inflected forms of hi
positive hija, hi
negative mhijiex, mhix
possessive pronoun tagħha
basic suffix -ha
direct object suffix -ha
indirect object suffix -lha

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch hīe, from Proto-Germanic *hiz.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi

  1. he

Inflection

Middle Dutch personal pronouns
singular plural
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
masc. fem. neut.
nominative ic du hi si het wi gi si
accusative mi di hem, hen haer ons u hem, hen
dative hem, hen
genitive mijn dijn sijn haer sijn onse uwe haer

Descendants

Further reading

  • “hi”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • “hi (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Middle English

Etymology 1

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of I

References

Etymology 2

From Old English hē, from Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”).

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of he

References

Etymology 3

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of heo

References

Etymology 4

From Old English hīe, hī.

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of he

References

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hî

  1. Alternative form of hê.

North Frisian

Pronoun

hi

  1. he

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Norse híð and híði.

Noun

hi n (definite singular hiet, indefinite plural hi, definite plural hia)

  1. lair (of an animal), sett (badgers)
    Bjørnene har gått i hi for vinteren.
    The bears have entered their lairs for the winter.

Etymology 2

Pronoun

hi

  1. feminine singular of hin

Etymology 3

Interjection

hi

  1. hee; expression of snickering

References

Old English

Pronoun

hī

  1. Alternative form of hīe (“they”)

Old Frisian

Pronoun

hi

  1. he

Declension

Old Frisian personal pronoun declensions
singular plural
1st 2nd 3rd m 3rd f 3rd n 1st 2nd 3rd
nominative ik thū hī hiū, hiō hit wī jī hiā
accusative mī thī hine hiā hit ūs jū, jō hiā
dative mī thī him hire, hiāre him ūs jū, jō him, hirem, hiārem
genitive mīn thīn sīn hire, hiāre sīn ūser jūwer hira, hiāra

Old Irish

Preposition

hi

  1. Alternative form of i
    • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 7d10
      Corrop inonn cretem bes hi far cridiu ⁊ a n-as·beraid hó bélib.
      So that the belief which is in your heart and what ye utter with your lips may be the same.

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

Conjunction

hi

  1. for, because

Adverb

hi

  1. indeed, certainly

References

  • hi in Pali Text Society (1921–1925), Pali-English Dictionary, London: Chipstead. (licensed under CC-BY-NC)

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Verb

hi

  1. to expose one's teeth
    Hi răng ra coi nào.
    Let me see your teeth.

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *sī (compare Old Irish sí).

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi

  1. she, her

Westrobothnian

Pronunciation

Etymology

From Old Norse híð and híði.

Noun

hi n

  1. lair (of an animal), sett (badgers)
Derived terms
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