kính
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Sino-Vietnamese word from 鏡 (“mirror”). Doublet of gương.
Alternative forms
- kiếng (southern Vietnam)
Noun
kính
- glass
- 1970, Tiến Duật Phạm, “Bài thơ về tiểu đội xe không kính [A Poem about the Windshieldless Squad]”, in Vầng trăng quầng lửa [A Fiery-Haloed Moon]:
- Không có kính không phải vì xe không có kính,
Bom giật, bom rung kính vỡ đi rồi.
Ung dung buồng lái ta ngồi,
Nhìn đất, nhìn trời, nhìn thẳng.- Those windshieldless trucks didn't come without windshields,
They're not there 'cause of bombardment shockwaves.
Calmly, we sit in the driver's seat
As we look at the ground, at the sky, and straight ahead.
- Those windshieldless trucks didn't come without windshields,
Noun
(classifier cái) kính
- eyeglasses
- (colloquial, chiefly in Southern Vietnam) a mirror
Usage notes
- Some people also say cặp kính which is akin to the English expression "pair of glasses".
Synonyms
- (mirror): gương
Derived terms
Derived terms
- kính hiển vi (“microscope”)
- kính lúp (“magnifying glass”)
- kính mát (“sunglasses”)
- kính râm (“sunglasses”)
- kính vạn hoa (“kaleidoscope”)
- kính viễn vọng (“telescope”)
- lăng kính (“prism”)
Etymology 2
Sino-Vietnamese word from 敬 (“to respect”).
Verb
kính
- (rare, chiefly in set phrases) to respect
- kính trên nhường dưới
- to respect the elderly and consider the young
See also
Prefix
kính
- (honorific, before verbs) respectfully; cordially
- Kính chào quý khách.
- Greetings.
- Kính mời ngài đến dự tiệc cưới của con chúng tôi.
- You are cordially invited to our children's wedding.
- Kính chúc ông bà mạnh khoẻ, sống lâu.
- We wish you good health and a long life.
Derived terms
Categories:
- Vietnamese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Sino-Vietnamese words
- Vietnamese doublets
- Vietnamese lemmas
- Vietnamese nouns
- Vietnamese terms with quotations
- Vietnamese nouns classified by cái
- Vietnamese colloquialisms
- Southern Vietnamese
- Vietnamese verbs
- Vietnamese terms with rare senses
- Vietnamese terms with usage examples
- Vietnamese prefixes
- Vietnamese honorific terms