Definition

1. Noun:
   • Offerings, ritual offerings: "đồ cúng" refers to items, typically food, drinks, fruits, or other objects, that are presented as offerings to deities, ancestors, or spirits during religious ceremonies, rituals, or worship practices.
   • Sacrificial items: It can also denote the specific items used in a sacrificial rite.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Mẹ tôi chuẩn bị đồ cúng rất cẩn thận cho ngày giỗ ông. (My mother prepares the offerings very carefully for my grandfather's death anniversary.)
  • Trên bàn thờ có đầy đủ đồ cúng như hoa quả, xôi, và gà luộc. (The altar is fully set with offerings such as fruits, sticky rice, and boiled chicken.)
  • Đồ cúng sau khi cúng xong thường được chia cho mọi người trong gia đình. (The offerings are usually shared among family members after the worship is completed.)

Advanced Usage

• "bày đồ cúng": to arrange/display the offerings.

  • Người ta thường bày đồ cúng lên bàn thờ trước khi thắp hương. (People usually arrange the offerings on the altar before lighting incense.)

• "hóa đồ cúng": to burn/vaporize the offerings (often referring to burning votive paper items).

  • Sau lễ cúng, họ hóa đồ cúng bằng vàng mã. (After the ceremony, they burn the paper offerings.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cúng (v): to worship, to make offerings.

  • Gia đình tôi cúng tổ tiên vào mỗi dịp Tết. (My family worships our ancestors every Tet holiday.)

• Lễ vật (n): ritual gifts, offerings (a more formal synonym).

  • Lễ vật dâng lên đền thờ rất phong phú. (The ritual gifts presented at the temple are very diverse.)

Synonyms

• Lễ phẩm: ritual goods, offerings.
• Đồ thờ cúng: worship items, ritual items (a compound term, use cautiously as per instruction).

Related Phrases

• Sắm đồ cúng: to buy/procure offerings.

  • Sáng nay bà đi chợ để sắm đồ cúng. (This morning, she went to the market to buy offerings.)

• Dọn đồ cúng: to clear away the offerings after the ceremony.

  • Chị dọn đồ cúng trên bàn thờ xuống. (She cleared the offerings from the altar.)

Related Idioms

• Có thờ có thiêng, có kiêng có lành: (Proverb) Literally "If you worship, it becomes sacred; if you abstain, you stay safe." It reflects the cultural belief in the efficacy of ritual practices like making offerings. While not containing "đồ cúng" directly, it is thematically related to the context of worship and offerings.

1. Offering