qi

¹

[ chee ]

noun

, Pinyin.

1. (in traditional Chinese medicine and philosophy) the vital life force that flows through the body and is supposedly regulated by acupuncture.

Qi

²

[ chœ ]

noun

, Pinyin.

1. Ch'i.

qi

/ tʃiː /

noun

1. a variant of chi 2

Word History and Origins

Origin of qi¹

First recorded in 1845–55; from Chinese qì “breath, air, spirit, gas”

Example Sentences

“Like acupuncture, which uses fine needles, Bojin is a method of unblocking stuck qi using a pointed tool made of stone or horn.”

From Los Angeles Times

For her Narcissus catchall, she applied the loose gestures of Chinese brush painting to metal sculpture to encapsulate the object’s qi, or vital energy.

From Seattle Times

“In Chinese tradition, the term ‘qi’ has many meanings, but for me, it means an invisible but palpable source of creative energy,” Dr. Oxnam told Hamptons Art Hub, an online publication, in 2018.

From New York Times

Every so often these shocks to the system are tremendously welcome: a way to clear the mind, heart and qi, even if the dry sauna is filled with groaning men in a midlife trance.

From New York Times

The classes are donation-based, and we congregate, each week with different community members, in sync, for an hour to balance, restore and generate our qi.

From Los Angeles Times