hi

A1 Topic:People & Society

US /haɪ/ UK /haɪ/ See IPA manual

Homophones

hie /haɪ/ high /haɪ/

Freq #247

Meanings

1

intj
A friendly, informal greeting said when you meet someone.

Hi, how are you?
2

noun
The act of saying hi as a greeting.

I didn't even get a hi from her.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 intj · a friendly, informal... hello howdy

2 noun · the act of saying hi as a... hello greeting

Word family

Derived forms rehi

Etymology

American English. First recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian (1862); originally to attract attention, probably a variant of Middle English hey, hy (circa 1475). Also an exclamation to call attention. See hey.

hey Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Register & Style

External links

# hi

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** intj, noun
**IPA (US):** /haɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /haɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 247

## Meanings
1. A friendly, informal greeting said when you meet someone.
2. The act of saying hi as a greeting.

## Examples
- Hi, how are you?
- I didn't even get a hi from her.

## Derived Forms
- rehi

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hey

## Etymology
American English. First recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian (1862); originally to attract attention, probably a variant of Middle English hey, hy (circa 1475). Also an exclamation to call attention. See hey.

## AI Etymology
Hi is American English. First recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian (1862); originally to attract attention, probably a variant of Middle English hey, hy (circa 1475). Also an exclamation to call attention. See hey. In current use, the main senses are “A friendly, informal greeting said when you meet someone” and “The act of saying hi as a greeting”.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Register & Style

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hi

Meanings

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