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"

Translingual

Symbol

fi

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Finnish.

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, lo-fi, or wi-fi)
2. (in combination) Abbreviation of fiction. (e.g. in sci-fi)

Related terms

• cli-fi
• psych-fi
• spy-fi

Etymology 3

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

Preposition

fi

1. (Jamaica) Alternative form of to
   • 2004, Deborah A. Thomas, Irene Silverblatt, Sonia Saldívar-Hul, Modern Blackness Nationalism, Globalization, and the Politics of Culture in Jamaica:

     We shoulda try fi produce more and market the things we have better so we can buy the things we need fi buy

   • 2005, Sean Paul (lyrics and music), “Temperature”:

     I got the right temperature fi shelter you from the storm

   • 2021, Maisy Card, These Ghosts Are Family, page 76:

     After the funeral you need fi find somewhere else fi live

See also

etymologically unrelated terms

• fee-fi-fo-fum
• fi fa
• fi-fi
• semper fi
• ych a fi

 

References

“fi”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• IF, if

Bavarian

Preposition

fi

1. Alternative form of fia

   Isch fi enk enkro Dialekt lai a Dialekt oddo an eigna Schprouche?

   Is your dialect just a dialect for you or is it a whole language?

Bourguignon

Etymology

From Latin filius.

Noun

fi m (plural fis)

1. son

Derived terms

• filleu
• fillôt

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfi]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin fīnis. Compare Occitan fin, French fin, Italian fine.

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
• superfí

 

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.

Esperanto

Etymology

From French fi, Latin fī. Compare German pfui.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): [fi]
• Hyphenation: fi

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!

Derived terms

• fi-

Fas

Noun

fi

1. water

References

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

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 [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin fīlius.

Noun

fi m (plural fis)

1. son

Related terms

• fie
• fioç

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French fille (“girl, daughter”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

fi

1. girl
2. daughter

Related terms

• tifi

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 (or fiim)
2nd person sing.	fid	fiaid (or fiid)
3rd person sing.	fija	fiai (or fii)
1st person plural	fink	fiaink (or fiink)
2nd person plural	fitok	fiaitok (or fiitok)
3rd person plural	fijuk	fiaik (or fiik)

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”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). 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”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

From English for to.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪ/
• Hyphenation: fi

Preposition

fi

1. for

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

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

   • 2016, Sylvia Gilfillian, The Road to Timnath: Di Ruod Tu Timnat (in Jamaican Creole), →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. […]

2. (+ infinitive) to

   Wi wah fi know wah gwaan.

   We want to know what's going on.

   • 2016, Sylvia Gilfillian, The Road to Timnath: Di Ruod Tu Timnat (in Jamaican Creole), →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. […]

3. (interrogative) (+ infinitive) can

   How dem fi do dat?

   How can they do a thing like that?

   • 2018, Shelley Sykes-Coley, Chat ’Bout!: An Anthology of Jamaican Conversations (in Jamaican Creole), →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. […]

4. (+ infinitive) should

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

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

   • 2013, Selvin McRae, The Guilty Truth Revealed (in Jamaican Creole), →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 […]

Further reading

• Richard Allsopp, editor (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, published 2003, →ISBN, page 229
• fi – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary

Japanese

Romanization

fi

1. The katakana syllable フィ (fi) in Hepburn-like romanization.

Latin

Pronunciation

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

Interjection

fī

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

   Fi, fi fetet!

   Pah, it stinks!

Descendants

• English: fy, fie
• Esperanto: fi

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

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from English fee.

Noun

fi (Jawi spelling في, plural fi-fi, informal 1st possessive fiku, 2nd possessive fimu, 3rd possessive finya)

1. fee

   Synonyms: yuran, caj

References

• “fi” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɪ/

Preposition

fi

1. Alternative form of f’: used before a consonant cluster

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: fi

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

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• phi (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfi/

• Rhymes: -i

Noun

fi m (plural fis)

1. phi (name of the Greek letter Φ)

Romanian

Alternative forms

• фи (fi) — Moldovan Cyrillic spelling
• hi — dialectal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin sum. The citation form and the f- conjugations come from Vulgar Latin *fīre < Latin fierī (“become”). Compare Aromanian hiu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fi]

• Audio:

  (file)

• 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 it is cold.”)

   Îmi este rău. ― I feel sick.

3. to be it in a game of tag

   Leapșa, tu ești! ― Tag, you're it!

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)

Romansch

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From Latin focus (“hearth, fireplace”).

Noun

fi m

1. (Surmiran) fire

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Noun

fi f (plural fíes)

1. phi; the Greek letter Φ, φ

Further reading

• “fi”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Etymology

Shortening of fienden (“the enemy”).

Noun

fi

1. Only used in lede fi

Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic فِي (fī)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiː/

Preposition

fi

1. (archaic) Archaic preposition meaning at, often used with prices or dates.

Notes

(A surviving fixed expression is"fi tarihinde".Please clarify, if it means at an unspecified earlier date or at an aforementioned date)

See also

• filvaki
• filhal

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/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 / u gwpan, fi, w, ecs, y, sèd

West Makian

Etymology 1

From Proto-North Halmahera *kahi (“skin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɸi/

Noun

fi

1. skin

   ituka mefi ― it's shedding its skin (of a snake)

2. bark

   fete de fi ― tree bark

3. shell

   laia de fi ― shellfish shell

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɸi/

Verb

fi

1. to come up (from below)

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[1], Pacific linguistics

Yoruba

Alternative forms

• فِ

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fí/

Noun

fí

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