pi

Meaning

Noun

1. The 16th letter of the Classical and Modern Greek alphabets and the seventeenth in Old Greek.
2. An irrational and transcendental constant representing the ratio of the circumference of a Euclidean circle to its diameter; approximately 3.14159265358979323846264338327950; usually written π.
3. Metal type that has been spilled, mixed together, or disordered.

Verb

To spill or mix printing type.

Adj

Not part of the usual font character set; especially, non-Roman type or symbols as opposed to standard alphanumeric Roman type.

Adj

Pious.

Synonyms

devout

pious

religious

sanctimonious

silicon

Pronounced as (IPA)

/paɪ/

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πεῖ (peî), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *pay- (“mouth”). Doublet of pe. Its mathematical use apparently stems from its use as the first letter in περιφέρεια (periphéreia, “periphery; circumference”) and was first cited in 1706 in the Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos by William Jones.