pi
/paɪ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.92 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The sixteenth letter of the Classical and Modern Greek alphabets and the seventeenth in Old Greek.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An irrational and transcendental constant representing the ratio of the circumference of a Euclidean circle to its diameter; approximately 3.14159265.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
Not part of the usual font character set; especially, non-Roman type or symbols as opposed to standard alphanumeric Roman type.
noun
adj
Example Sentences
- "In computing, pi characters may be entered with special key combinations."
- "Our Major was "Cherub" Cheeseman, noted for his foul language. I am afraid he lost a tidy little legacy that he was expecting from his aunt, the Dowager Lady Shuttlecock (a very "pi" old lady), through this same habit of his."
- "“Those are very 'pi' sentiments. Was a preacher in Staffordshire— I was raised chapel, though've tried to forget it—he talked that way... redemption and the lot.”"
- "In Sense and Sensibility, as even you might agree, there's at least the danger of a rather pi moral framework clamping down on the spontaneous fun and leaving the sisters to survive - a bit drearily - on the periphery of a mean world."
- "We're going back to the PI for a vacation this summer."
- "Pi County has brought democracy into full play. The peasants there are electing production team leaders and other production team cadres by secret ballot."
Etymology
From Koine Greek πῖ (pî), from Ancient Greek πεῖ (peî), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *pay- (“mouth”). Doublet of pe. Its mathematical use apparently stems from its use as the first letter in περιφέρεια (periphéreia, “periphery; circumference”) and was first cited in 1706 in the Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos by William Jones.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
- Countable
- Uncountable
- American usage
- Dated
- Slang
Inflected Forms
pis (plural)
pies (present, singular)
piing (participle, present)
pied (participle, past)
pied (past)
P.I. (alternative)
P. I. (alternative)
more PI (comparative)
most PI (superlative)
Pe (alternative)
P'i (alternative)