nam châm

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 南針, composed of 南 (“south”) and 針 (“needle”), from Chinese 指南針／指南针 (chỉ nam châm, “compass”, literally “southward needle”). In Chinese philosophy, south is a "yang" direction and thus more dominant than north.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [naːm˧˧ t͡ɕəm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [naːm˧˧ t͡ɕəm˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [naːm˧˧ cəm˧˧]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

Noun

(classifier cái, chiếc, cục) nam châm

1. a magnet (piece of material that attracts some metals by magnetism)

See also

• kim chỉ nam
• la bàn