خي

From a diminutive of Arabic أَخ (ʔaḵ). Compare also بي (bayy, “father”) vis-à-vis Arabic أَب (ʔab).

خي • (ḵayy) m (plural إخوة (ʔiḵwe) or إخوات (ʔiḵwāt), feminine إخت (ʔiḵt))

1. (Lebanon) brother

   Synonym: أخ (ʔaḵḵ)

• Curiously, خيات (ḵayyāt) is only a valid plural of إخت (ʔiḵt, “sister”), even though the rhyming word بي (bayy, “father”) takes the plural بيات (bayyāt).

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

خي • (ḵayy)

1. relief! (expressing pleasure with a sudden absence of stress or noise)
   • 2005, Stavro Jabra, التمثيل الناقص [The missing representative]‎, Lebanon, archived from the original on 2019-11-11:

     خَيّْ... خلصنا من أَول جنرال...

     ḵayy... ḵluṣna min ʾawwal jinirāl...

     Thank goodness... we've gotten rid of the first general...