ฉาย

Borrowed from Sanskrit छाया (chāyā, “shadow; reflection”), possibly via Old Khmer chāya (“shadow; reflection; looking-glass”). Cognate with Modern Khmer ឆាយ (chaay).

ฉาย • (chǎai)

1. reflection: something reflected, such as an image in a mirror.
2. shade; shadow.
3. (royal) (พระ~) mirror; looking-glass.

ฉาย • (chǎai) (abstract noun การฉาย)

1. (transitive, as of a film, slide, etc) to screen: to show on a screen.

Borrowed from Khmer ឆាយ (chaay, “beautiful”) (though TDP implicitly groups the terms under this section with the "screen" sense of Etymology 1).

ฉาย • (chǎai)

1. (now only found in combination) beautiful; adorable; charming.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Semantic extension of the "screen" sense of Etymology 1? TDP treats it as such.”)

ฉาย • (chǎai) (abstract noun การฉาย)

1. (transitive, as of light, ray, etc) to emit; to let out; to send forth.
2. (figurative, usually of an emotion, feeling, or the like) to show; to exhibit; to allow to be seen.

Borrowed from Khmer ឆាយ (chaay, “to level; to flatten”).

ฉาย • (chǎai) (abstract noun การฉาย)

1. (now rare, transitive, as of ground, surface, etc) to level; to flatten.

• “ฉาย” in Thai Dictionary Project (TDP) (UC Berkeley 1964) (plus additional data from the Royal Institute of Thailand (RI) and NECTEC's LEXITRON project (LEX)). Searchable online at SEAlang.net.