chis

as inChicago

Synonyms for chis

noun u.s. city

Word Origin & History

22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, representing a -kh- sound (see ch). The letter is shaped like an X, and so the Greek letter name was used figuratively to signify such a shape or arrangement (e.g. khiasma "two things placed crosswise;" khiastos "arranged diagonally; marked with an X;" khiazein "to mark with an 'X', to write the letter 'X'"). Some dialects used chi to represent the -ks- sound properly belonging to xi; Latin picked this up and the sound value of chi in Latin-derived alphabets is now that of English X.

Example Sentences for chis

Chisleu, chis′lū, n. the ninth month of the Jewish year, including parts of November and December.

Orchidol′ogy, the knowledge of orchids; Or′chis, a genus containing ten of the British species of orchids.

In New York city, the Chis predominate, numbering some five hundred souls.