cồ

See also: Cồ

Vietnamese

Etymology

Compare Old Chinese 巨 (OC *ɡaʔ) (SV: cự) and 渠 (OC *ɡa) (SV: cừ).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ko˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kow˦˩]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kow˨˩]

Adjective

cồ • (瞿, 𡚝)

1. (obsolete, dialectal) big, large, great, tall

   Thắng cồ ― Tall Thắng

   • 13th century, Trần Nhân Tông, Cư Trần lạc đạo phú 居塵樂道賦, Đệ thất hội 第七會:

     勉(mến)德(đức)瞿(cồ)經(kiêng)裴(bùi)兀(ngọt)扲(cầm)戒(giới)咹(ăn)㪰(chay)

     Treasure [those with] great virtue/Love the Buddha, abstain from sweet and savory [food], keep up the vegan code.

2. (obsolete, by extension) clumsy, doltish

   lóng ngóng như gà cồ ― fumbling like a clumsy chicken

Usage notes

In most dialects, cồ meaning "big, large, great, tall" is now only found fossilized in such compounds as gà cồ (“large chicken > mature male chicken, rooster, cock, gamecock”), vịt cồ (“large duck > mature male duck, drake”), cồ cộ (“large locust; large black cicada (dialectal); big, large (rare)”).

See also

cộ