hi

1 an expression of greeting; "every morning they exchanged polite hellos" [syn: hello, hullo, howdy, how-do-you-do]

2 a state in the United States in the central Pacific on the Hawaiian Islands [syn: Hawaii, Aloha State]

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• /haɪ/, /haI/
• Rhymes with: -aɪ

Homophones

• high
• hie

Interjection

hi

1. A friendly, informal, casual greeting said when meeting someone.

   Hi, how are you?

   I just dropped by to say “hi”.

Synonyms

• sense friendly informal greeting hello

Translations

Adjective

hi

1. Simplified spelling variant of high, often hyphenated.

   Get hi-quality videos here!

   Next, set the burner to hi.

Derived terms

• hi-tech
• hi-lo
• hi-fi
• hifalutin

Related terms

• lo
• mid

Albanian

Noun

hi m'' (-ri)

1. ashes

Basque

Pronoun

hi

1. you (singular, familiar)

Breton

Pronoun

hi

1. she

Catalan

Etymology

From ibi, there.

Despite the many similarities between the modern Catalan hi and the modern French y, it is a metter of debate at what stage the distinction between the two forms occurred. In both the langue d'oc and in proto-Iberian dialects of vulgar Latin (the two most probable sources of the pronoun in medieval Catalan), ibi became contracted first to vi and then to hi: the transformation in the langue d'oïl, and thence to middle French, is less clear.

Pronoun

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")

Derived terms

* l'hi

• m'hi
• n'hi
• s'hi
• t'hi
• -ens-hi
• -l'hi
• -la-hi
• -les-hi
• -los-hi
• 'ls-hi
• -m'hi
• -n'hi
• 'ns-hi
• -s'hi
• -t'hi
• -us-hi
• -vos-hi

Usage notes

1. When more than one object pronoun is associated with a given verb, hi is alway the last in the group.
2. Hi and ho cannot be used together with the same verb, nor can two his be used together.
3. 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.

See also

• en pron
• ho pron

Cornish

Pronoun

hi

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

Danish

Noun

hi

1. hibernation

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic

Pronoun

hi

1. she

Welsh

Pronoun

hi

1. she, her.

HI or Hi may refer to:

• An informal way to say hello.
• Hi (magazine), an Arab-English language magazine.
• reporting mark HI
• Hindi language (ISO 639-1, hi)
• Hi (kana), the Japanese characters ひ and ヒ pronounced as .
• H I (note the space), an astronomical spectral line
• Hi Records, a record label
• Hi (mobile), a Dutch mobile phone company and subsidiary of KPN
• "HI" can also be an acronym or abbreviation:
  • Humorous Interpretation, a National Forensics League category(ies)
  • Hawaii (United States postal abbreviation)
  • Holiday Inn hotels
  • Hormonal imprinting
  • Hostelling International
  • Hydrogen iodide, an ionic diatomic compound which can be dissolved in water to form hydroiodic acid

See also:

• High