English word origin

Etymology of Chi

From the Wade-Giles romanization of the Mandarin Chinese 齊 /齐 (Qí).

4 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 4 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

name

Qi, an ancient Chinese duchy, and later kingdom, under the Zhou dynasty · A Chinese surname.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From the Wade-Giles romanization of the Mandarin Chinese 齊 /齐 (Qí).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "3": "-"
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      "expansion": "Mandarin"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Wade-Giles",
      "Wade-Giles"
    ],
    [
      "齊",
      "齊#Mandarin"
    ],
    [
      "齐",
      "齐#Mandarin"
    ]
  ],
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Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗

name

Chicago

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Apocopic form of Chicago.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "apocopic form",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Chicago"
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  ],
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    [
      "Chicago",
      "Chicago#English"
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Source etymology 4

Original entry ↗

name

Chichester (city in England)

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Apocopic form of Chichester.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Chichester"
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      "expansion": "Apocopic form of Chichester"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
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    ]
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      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
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Source etymology 6

Original entry ↗

name

A surname from Chinese.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From the Wade–Giles romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 姞 (Jí), sometimes derived from 女 (“woman, matriarchal clan marker”) + 吉 (jí, “lucky”). Doublet of Ji.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Borrowed-form mention姞zh
Doublet mentionJien

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    },
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      },
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    }
  ],
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    ],
    [
      "女",
      "女#Chinese"
    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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      "Ji#English"
    ]
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Chi →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-Q2hp