Definition

1. Noun:
   • Female medium, spirit medium (woman): "bà cốt" refers to a woman who acts as a medium, a person believed to be able to communicate with spirits or deities, often in a religious or ritual context.
   • Sorceress, witch (archaic/folk context): In some traditional folk beliefs, it can refer to a woman thought to have supernatural or magical powers.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Ngôi đền này thường mời một bà cốt để thực hiện nghi lễ. (This temple often invites a female medium to perform the ritual.)
  • Theo truyền thuyết, bà cốt trong làng có thể chữa bệnh bằng phép thuật. (According to legend, the sorceress in the village could cure illnesses with magic.)

Advanced Usage

• "Làm bà cốt": to work as a female medium.
  • Bà ấy đã làm bà cốt cho cộng đồng này nhiều năm. (She has worked as a medium for this community for many years.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cốt (n): medium, spirit medium (general term, can be male or female). "Bà cốt" is the female-specific form.
• Ông cốt (n): male medium, spirit medium (man).
• Đồng cốt (n): spirit mediumship; the practice or state of being a medium.

Synonyms

• Pháp sư (n): sorcerer, wizard (more general, not gender-specific for the practitioner).
• Thầy cúng (n): ritual master (often male, performs ceremonies, may overlap with mediumistic functions).
• Thầy mo (n): shaman, traditional healer (in some ethnic groups).

Related Phrases

• Lên đồng (v): to go into a trance (a state associated with mediumship).
  • Trong buổi lễ, bà cốt sẽ lên đồng để tiếp xúc với thần linh. (During the ceremony, the medium will go into a trance to contact the deities.)

Related Idioms

(This specific term is highly contextual and is not commonly found in widespread idiomatic expressions. Its usage is typically literal and tied to spiritual/folk practices.)

1. xem cốt