sai

See also: Sai, SAI, sài, săi, sǎi, sāi, šai, śai, and sai'

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saɪ/
• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: sigh, psi, xi, scye, Si

Etymology 1

From Japanese 釵 (sai).

Noun

sai (plural sai)

1. A handheld weapon with three prongs, used in some Oriental martial arts.

See also

• Sai (weapon) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Compare Portuguese sahi, from Tupian sai (“monkey”).

Noun

sai

1. A sajou; a capuchin (monkey).

Further reading

• “sai”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “sai”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Min Nan 屎 (sái, “excrement; poop”).

Noun

sai (uncountable) (Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial, Singlish)

1. (vulgar) shit
   • 1998 February 10, Thye Hoon Lin, “SM Lee was right - Johor is notorious for muggings!”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

     […] the employer of the unfortunate maid that was forced to makan sai are indonesians.

   • 1998 July 9, SimiSar, “[sangkancil] New HK airport faces barrage of criticism (fwd)”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

     It is Chek Lap Kok ho lang. You should makan sai. Are you an Orang Laut trying to speak Chinese?

   • 2003 April 18, Bone Toad, “Christ won”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

     go and take your morning shower and wash your arse with water and soap after pang sai

Anagrams

• A. S. I., A.S.I., AIS, AIs, ASI, Asi, IAS, ISA, Isa, Isa., Sia, a-Si, ais, is-a

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Basque

Noun

sai anim

1. vulture

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Estonian

Etymology 1

Cognate to Livonian sōja (“white bread”). Possibly a derivation from saama. As white bread was often offered during weddings, an initial compound of saialeib would have meant something along the lines of "receiver's bread, wedding bread".

Noun

sai (genitive saia, partitive saia)

1. white bread

Declension

Declension of sai (type sai)

	singular	plural
nominative	sai	saiad
genitive	saia	saiade
partitive	saia	saiu / saiasid
illative	saia / saiasse	saiadesse
inessive	saias	saiades
elative	saiast	saiadest
allative	saiale	saiadele
adessive	saial	saiadel
ablative	saialt	saiadelt
translative	saiaks	saiadeks
terminative	saiani	saiadeni
essive	saiana	saiadena
abessive	saiata	saiadeta
comitative	saiaga	saiadega

See also

• leib

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

sai

1. Third-person singular past form of saama.

   Ta sai kingituse. ― He got a present.

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑi̯/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝i̯]
• Rhymes: -ɑi
• Syllabification^(key): sai

Verb

sai

1. (deprecated template usage) third-person singular past indicative of saada

   Hän sai lahjan. ― He got a present.

Anagrams

• -ias, -isa, ais

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Gothic

Romanization

sai

1. Romanization of 𐍃𐌰𐌹

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Italian

Verb

sai

1. (second-person singular present indicative of sapere) - (you) know

   Non lo sai? ― Don't you know (it)?

   Sai il mio nome. ― You know my name.

   Tu lo sai! ― You do (know it)!

Noun

sai pl

1. plural of saio

Anagrams

• sia

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Japanese

Romanization

sai

1. Rōmaji transcription of さい
2. Rōmaji transcription of サイ

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Mandarin

Romanization

sai

1. Nonstandard spelling of sāi.
2. Nonstandard spelling of sǎi.
3. Nonstandard spelling of sài.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

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Middle English

Noun

sai

1. Alternative form of assay

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Min Nan

For pronunciation and definitions of sai – see 獅 (“lion”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 獅).

For pronunciation and definitions of sai – see 西 (“west; western; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 西).

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Portuguese

Alternative forms

• sae (obsolete), say (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaj/
• Rhymes: -aj

Verb

sai

1. Template:pt-verb-form-of

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Solon

Noun

sai

1. tea

References

• Bayarma Khabtagaeva, Dagur Elements in Solon Evenki, 2012.

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Veps

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

sai

1. wedding

References

• Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “свадьба”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[1], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

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Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [saːj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʂaːj˧˧] ~ [saːj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʂaːj˧˧] ~ [saːj˧˧]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 差 (“bad; incorrect; inaccurate; to order; to send”).

Adjective

sai

1. be incorrect
2. be inaccurate

Synonyms

• trật

Antonyms

• đúng
• phải

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 差.

Verb

sai

1. (chiefly in compounds) to order, to send
   • 1920, Trần Trọng Kim, Việt Nam sử lược, Quyển II, Trung Bắc Tân Văn, page 130

     Vua Càn-long nghe lời tâu ấy sai Tôn sĩ Nghị khởi quân bốn tỉnh Quảng-đông, Quảng-tây, Quí-châu, Vân-nam, đem sang đánh Tây-sơn.

     When the Quanlong Emperor had heard this petition, he ordered Sun Shiyi to take the troops of the four provinces Guangdong, Guangzhou, Guizhou, and Yunnan and bring them to fight the Tây Sơn.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• sai bảo
• sai khiến
• tay sai

 

Etymology 3

Adjective

sai • (𡗂)

1. (of trees) be fruitful

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Zhuang

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /θaːi˨˦/
• Tone numbers: sai¹
• Hyphenation: sai

Etymology 1

From Proto-Tai *ʑaːjᴬ (“male”). Cognate with Thai ชาย (chaai), Northern Thai ᨩᩣ᩠ᨿ, Lao ຊາຍ (sāi), Lü ᦋᦻ (tsaay), Shan ၸၢႆး (tsáai), Tai Nüa ᥓᥣᥭᥰ (tsäay), Ahom 𑜋𑜩 (chay).

Noun

sai (Sawndip forms 𪟞 or 仔 or 哉 or 腮 or 偲, 1957–1982 spelling sai)

1. male; man; boy; fellow

Derived terms

• bouxsai
• lansai
• lwgsai

 

Etymology 2

From Proto-Tai *saːjᴬ (“cord; string”). Cognate with Thai สาย (sǎai), Lao ສາຍ (sāi).

Noun

sai (Sawndip forms 𧛷 or 緦 or 腮 or 哉 or 𬗹 or 彩, 1957–1982 spelling sai)

1. band; belt; ribbon

Derived terms

• saidox
• saidoengz
• saigvaq
• saigyoeng
• saiheux
• saihoz
• saihwet
• sailwed
• saimaecik
• saimba
• sainyouh
• sairaemx
• saisengj
• saivaq

 

Etymology 3

Verb

sai (Sawndip forms 浉 or 筛, 1957–1982 spelling sai)

1. to waste; to squander
2. to lose (through damage or death)

Etymology 4

Verb

sai (Sawndip form 浉, 1957–1982 spelling sai)

1. to pour (wine)

Etymology 5

Verb

sai (Sawndip forms 㩙 or 师, 1957–1982 spelling sai)

1. to saw (wood)

Etymology 6

Verb

sai (Sawndip form 𡧳, 1957–1982 spelling sai)

1. (dialectal, of flowers) to bloom