ti

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
  2. noun shrub with terminal tufts of elongated leaves used locally for thatching and clothing; thick sweet roots are used as food; tropical southeastern Asia, Australia and Hawaii
  3. noun the syllable naming the seventh (subtonic) note of any musical scale in solmization

Etymology

Coined by English music educator Sarah Anna Glover in 1812 as an alteration of si for her solmization, made so that every note of solfège would begin with a different letter, from Middle English si (“seventh degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian si in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the initials of Latin Sāncte Iohannēs (“Saint John (the Baptist)”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

In classic literature

Synonyms

titanium, atomic number 22

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