Definition

1. Verb:
   • To protect and care for; to shelter and support: The core meaning of "đùm bọc" is to provide physical protection, emotional care, and material support to someone, especially someone weaker, in need, or within one's community or family. It implies a sense of mutual responsibility and solidarity.
   • To look after one another: It often conveys a reciprocal or collective action, where people support and shield each other.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Gia đình luôn đùm bọc lẫn nhau. (The family always protects and cares for one another.)
  • Cộng đồng đã đùm bọc những người dân mất nhà trong cơn bão. (The community sheltered and supported the people who lost their homes in the storm.)
  • Tinh thần "lá lành đùm lá rách" thể hiện sự đùm bọc của người Việt. (The spirit of "the good leaf wraps the torn leaf" shows the Vietnamese people's mutual support.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is deeply tied to Vietnamese cultural values of community, family solidarity, and compassion. It is often used in formal, literary, or proverbial contexts to describe an ideal social virtue.
• It can be used in a broader, more figurative sense for organizations or nations.
  • Tổ quốc đùm bọc những đứa con của mình. (The motherland shelters her children.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bao bọc (v): To envelop, to wrap around. It can be used similarly to "đùm bọc" but often focuses more on the act of surrounding or covering for protection.
  • Tình yêu thương bao bọc đứa trẻ. (Love envelops the child.)
• Che chở (v): To shield, to protect. This emphasizes the defensive aspect more than the nurturing aspect of "đùm bọc".
  • Người mẹ che chở cho con. (The mother shields her child.)
• Cưu mang (v): To take in and provide for someone (often in a long-term sense), to give shelter and sustenance.
  • Họ cưu mang đứa trẻ mồ côi. (They took in and provided for the orphaned child.)

Synonyms

• To shelter: To provide a place of protection.
• To support: To give assistance or backing.
• To care for: To look after and provide for needs.
• To look after: To take responsibility for someone's well-being.

Related Idioms and Proverbs

• Lá lành đùm lá rách: Literally "The good leaf wraps the torn leaf." This is the most famous proverb associated with "đùm bọc". It means the fortunate should help and protect the less fortunate.
  • Truyền thống lá lành đùm lá rách là rất đáng quý. (The tradition of the good leaf wrapping the torn leaf is very precious.)
• Bầu ơi thương lấy bí cùng / Tuy rằng khác giống nhưng chung một giàn: A proverb meaning "Oh gourd, love the squash too / Though of different kinds, they share the same trellis." It teaches the lesson of solidarity and mutual support among people who live in the same community or nation.

1. Protect and help mutually
   • Đùm bọc nhau trong những lúc khó khăn
     To protect and help one another in time of distress