Definition

1. Verb:

   • To hide or conceal: To make oneself or something difficult to see or find; to be in a concealed position.
   • To seclude or withdraw: To retire from society or public life, often to live a quiet, private life away from others.
   • To thrust or push (archaic/less common): To push something, typically a door or gate, with a quick, forceful motion.

2. Adjective:

   • Latent or hidden: Existing but not yet visible, obvious, or active; concealed within something else.
   • Implicit (mathematics): Describing a function or variable that is not directly stated but is understood to exist within a given relationship.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to hide):
  • Con thỏ ẩn trong bụi cây. (The rabbit hides in the bushes.)
  • Ngọn núi ẩn sau lớp mây dày. (The mountain is hidden behind thick clouds.)
• Verb (to seclude):
  • Nhà thơ về ẩn ở vùng núi. (The poet withdrew to live in seclusion in the mountains.)
• Verb (to thrust - archaic):
  • Ông ấy ẩn cửa bước vào. (He thrust the door open and stepped in.)
• Adjective:
  • Đây là một hàm số ẩn. (This is an implicit function.)
  • Nhiệt ẩn là một khái niệm vật lý. (Latent heat is a physics concept.)

Advanced Usage

• "ẩn mình": to hide oneself; to go into hiding.
  • Nghệ sĩ đó thích ẩn mình khỏi giới truyền thông. (That artist likes to hide from the media.)
• "ẩn dụ": metaphor (a figure of speech where a word or phrase is used to represent something else).
  • Bài thơ sử dụng nhiều ẩn dụ phức tạp. (The poem uses many complex metaphors.)
• "ẩn số" (mathematics): unknown quantity (e.g., in an equation, often represented by x, y).
  • Chúng ta cần tìm ra ẩn số trong phương trình này. (We need to find the unknown in this equation.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ẩn náu (v): to take refuge; to shelter oneself.
  • Họ tìm nơi để ẩn náu khỏi cơn bão. (They looked for a place to take refuge from the storm.)
• Ẩn dật (v): to live in retirement; to be a hermit.
  • Sau bao năm bon chen, ông ấy quyết định sống ẩn dật. (After years of striving, he decided to live in retirement.)
• Ẩn hiện (v): to appear and disappear intermittently; to flicker in and out of view.
  • Ánh đèn ẩn hiện trong sương đêm. (The lights flickered in and out of view in the night fog.)

Synonyms

• Hide: to conceal.
• Conceal: to keep from sight.
• Seclude: to isolate from others.
• Latent: existing but not yet developed or manifest.
• Implicit: implied though not plainly expressed.

Related Idioms

• "Ẩn tàng": to lie hidden; to be stored away (often for knowledge, potential, or treasure).
  • Vùng đất này ẩn tàng nhiều bí mật. (This land holds many hidden secrets.)
• "Cao nhân ẩn mình": A talented or superior person who lives in obscurity (literally, "a master hides himself").
  • Đừng coi thường anh ấy, có thể là một cao nhân ẩn mình đấy. (Don't look down on him; he might be a hidden master.)

verb

1. To thrust
   • ẩn cánh cửa bước vào
     to thrust the door open and step in
2. To hide
   • du kích khi ẩn khi hiện
     the guerillas now hide, now appear
   • hòn đảo ẩn trong sương mù
     the island was shrouded by mist
3. To seclude oneself from the world
   • cáo quan về ẩn ở quê nhà
     to resign one's office and seclude oneself in one's native village

adj

1. Latent
   • nhiệt ẩn
     latent heat