xi
/zaɪ/noun
xi is spelled X-I: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, xi means “The 14th letter of Classical and Modern Greek. The 15th in Ancient and Old Greek” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of xi is xis.
How many letters and syllables are in xi?
| Letters | 2: X-I |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,878th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is xi?
Xi appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,878th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce xi?
- /zaɪ/
- /saɪ/
- /ksaɪ/
Xi has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-xi.ogg, En-au-XI.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of xi
- xis plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does xi mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The 14th letter of Classical and Modern Greek. The 15th in Ancient and Old Greek.
- 2
Either of a pair of hyperons having spin 1/2, which decay into a lambda particle and a pion.
noun
- 1
A football (soccer) team of eleven players.
- 2
A cricket team of eleven players.
noun
- 1
Capital Greek letter Ξ (X)
- 2
Alternative form of xi, Greek letter Ξ/ξ (X/x)
- 3
Alternative form of xi/Ξ, ellipsis of xi baryon.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Xi in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Greek letter:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does xi come from?
From Ancient Greek ξεῖ (xeî), ξῖ (xî).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).