Definition

1. Noun:

   • Prayer; sacred text; scripture: A set of words recited or chanted as part of religious worship, or a canonical book containing such texts (e.g., the Bible, the Quran, Buddhist sutras).
   • Classic text; canonical book: One of the fundamental philosophical or literary texts of ancient China (e.g., the Confucian classics).
   • Capital city (abbreviation of "kinh đô"): The city serving as the seat of government, especially in a historical, monarchical context.
   • Menstruation (abbreviation of "kinh nguyệt"): The monthly discharge of blood from the uterus.

2. Adjective:

   • Frightening; terrifying: Causing a sudden feeling of fear or alarm.
   • Epileptic (abbreviation of "động kinh"): Relating to or suffering from epilepsy.
   • Kinh (ethnic designation): Used by ethnic minorities in Vietnam to refer to the majority Kinh ethnic group or things pertaining to them.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Bà ấy đọc kinh mỗi tối. (She reads prayers every evening.)
  • "Kinh Dịch" là một bộ kinh cổ của Trung Quốc. (The "I Ching" is an ancient Chinese classic.)
  • Nhà vua sống ở kinh. (The king lived in the capital.)
  • Chị ấy bị đau bụng kinh. (She has menstrual cramps.)

• Adjective:

  • Cảnh tượng đó trông thật kinh. (That scene looks truly frightening.)
  • Đứa bé bị kinh. (The child is epileptic.)
  • Tiếng Kinh (tiếng Việt) là ngôn ngữ phổ biến. (The Kinh language (Vietnamese) is common.)

Advanced Usage

• "tắt kinh": to experience menopause; to stop menstruating.

  • Phụ nữ ở độ tuổi 50 thường tắt kinh. (Women around age 50 often experience menopause.)

• "lên kinh": to have an epileptic seizure.

  • Nó đột nhiên lên kinh. (He suddenly had an epileptic seizure.)

Variants and Related Words

• Kinh đô (n): capital city.

  • Huế từng là kinh đô của triều Nguyễn. (Hue was once the capital of the Nguyen dynasty.)

• Kinh nguyệt (n): menstruation, period.

  • Chu kỳ kinh nguyệt thường là 28 ngày. (The menstrual cycle is usually 28 days.)

• Kinh sợ (adj): terrified, horrified.

  • Tôi kinh sợ khi nghe tin đó. (I was horrified to hear that news.)

• Động kinh (n/adj): epilepsy; epileptic.

  • Bệnh động kinh cần được điều trị. (Epilepsy needs to be treated.)

Synonyms

• Prayer/Scripture: liturgy, sutra, canon.
• Classic: canon, classic text.
• Capital: metropolis, seat of government.
• Frightening: scary, horrifying, dreadful.

Related Idioms

• Kinh hồn bạt vía: to be scared out of one's wits; utterly terrified.

  • Câu chuyện ma làm nó kinh hồn bạt vía. (The ghost story scared him out of his wits.)

• Kinh thành: a literary term for the capital city.

  • Người ta đổ về kinh thành để thi. (People flocked to the capital to take exams.)

noun

1. prayer; prayer-book; the bible canal