khủng bố

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 恐怖 (“terror, terrifying”). The Sino-Vietnamese reading of the second character is irregular and is most likely due to the influence of the phonetic 布 (MC puH) (SV: bố) used in 怖 (MC phuH).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [xʊwŋ͡m˧˩ ʔɓo˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kʰʊwŋ͡m˧˨ ʔɓow˨˩˦] ~ [xʊwŋ͡m˧˨ ʔɓow˨˩˦]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kʰʊwŋ͡m˨˩˦ ʔɓow˦˥] ~ [xʊwŋ͡m˨˩˦ ʔɓow˦˥]

Verb

khủng bố

1. to persecute
2. to terrorize, to cause terror

   kẻ khủng bố ― a terrorist

Derived terms

• chủ nghĩa khủng bố (“terrorism”)