Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The Chinese art or practice of positioning objects, especially graves, buildings, and furniture, based on a belief in patterns of yin and yang and the flow of chi that have positive and negative effects.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An ancient
Chinese system ofdesigning buildings and spacearrangement according to special rules about the flow of energy, aimed at achievingharmony with the environment. - noun In Chinese
mythology , a system ofspiritual energies, bothgood andevil , present in the natural features oflandscapes . - verb transitive To arrange a space according to the rules of feng shui.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Mandarin fēng shuǐ, geomancy, from Middle Chinese fuwŋ ʂyj´ : fuwŋ, wind + ʂyj´, water (from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *lwi).]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Sinitic 風水 (fēngshuǐ, "wind and water")
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Examples
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johnmperry commented on the word feng shui
Chinese = wind & water
pronounced "fong shway"
A superstitious practice of ensuring good fortune to a house by placing the furniture and fittings at appropriate positions.
July 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word feng shui
I usually hear it pronounced "feng shway" around here.
July 14, 2008
bilby commented on the word feng shui
'Foong shway' here. Never mind, the Chinese seem to have dialects on their dialects, several pronunciations do not surprise me.
July 14, 2008
BrainyBabe commented on the word feng shui
I pronounce it geomancy.
December 25, 2008