ชี

Thai

Buddhist female lay renunciants

Christian nuns

mayfly

coriander leaves

Chi River

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemic		ชี d͡ʑ ī
Romanization	Paiboon	chii
	Royal Institute	chi
(standard) IPA(key)		/t͡ɕʰiː˧/(R)

Etymology 1

From Sanskrit jī (“an honorific title”), according to the Royal Institute Dictionary 2011; but more likely to be from , , , , , , or from , , , , , or from , , , , and thus cognate with Modern Khmer ជី (cii). Perhaps cognate with or borrowed as Lao ຊີ (sī).

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• ^†ชีย
• ^†ชีย์

 

Noun

ชี • (chii) (classifier คน or ตน or รูป)

1. (archaic, irrespective of the sex) priest.
2. (แม่~, นาง~, ยาย~) female priest; priestess; religieuse.
3. (Buddhism) (แม่~, นาง~, ยาย~) female lay renunciant: laywoman who has her own hair and eyebrows shaved, vows to adhere to ศีลแปด (“Eight Precepts”), and is often seen wearing a white robe.
4. (Christianity) (แม่~, นาง~) nun.

Etymology 2

From clipping of ชีปะขาว.

Noun

ชี • (chii) (classifier ตัว)

1. (แมลง~) mayfly: any insect of the order Ephemeroptera.

Etymology 3

Cognate with Lao ຊີ (sī).

Noun

ชี • (chii)

1. (ผัก~) coriander: the plant Coriandrum sativum of the family Apiaceae.

Descendants

• → Japanese: パクチー

Etymology 4

Proper noun

ชี • (chii)

1. (แม่น้ำ~, น้ำ~, แม่~) Chi River, the longest river in Thailand.

Etymology 5

Verb

ชี • (chii) (abstract noun การชี)

1. (of a downy substance) to diffuse; to spread; to scatter.

Etymology 6

From English she.

Pronoun

ชี • (chii)

1. (slang, humorous, originally LGBT slang) a third person pronoun, originally used to address a woman or effeminate man, now used irrespective of the sex of the addressee: he, she, they, etc.