Definition

1. Noun:

   • Silver: A precious, shiny white metallic element, often used for making jewelry, coins, or decorative items.
   • Money / Currency (historical or informal): Refers to money in general, or specifically to the historical piastre (đồng bạc), a unit of currency.
   • Gambling: The activity or business of playing games of chance for money.

2. Adjective:

   • Silver-colored / White: Having the pale, shiny color of silver metal.
   • Grey / White (hair): Describes hair that has turned grey or white due to age.
   • Faded / Discolored: Describes fabric or color that has lost its original hue from wear or washing.
   • Ungrateful / Unfaithful: Describes a person who is disloyal, forgetful of kindness received, or who treats others poorly despite past favors.
   • Meager / Insignificant: Describes something thin, slight, or of little substance or importance.
   • Fleeting / Precarious: Describes a fate or life circumstance that is fragile, transient, or insecure.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Silver):
  • Chiếc vòng bạc này rất đẹp. (This silver bracelet is very beautiful.)
• Noun (Money):
  • Ông ấy có hàng trăm bạc. (He has hundreds of piastres.)
• Noun (Gambling):
  • Đánh bạc là một thói xấu. (Gambling is a bad habit.)
• Adjective (Color):
  • Mái tóc bạc của bà. (Her grey hair.)
  • Bầu trời đầy mây bạc. (The sky is full of silver clouds.)
• Adjective (Faded):
  • Chiếc áo màu đã bạc. (The shirt's color has faded.)
• Adjective (Character):
  • Hắn là một kẻ bạc tình. (He is an ungrateful / faithless person.)
  • Món quà nhỏ, lễ bạc nhưng tấm lòng thành. (A small gift, a meager offering but a sincere heart.)

Advanced Usage

• "bạc phận" / "phận bạc": A precarious or unfortunate lot in life; a fragile destiny.
  • Số phận cô ấy thật bạc phận. (Her fate is truly precarious.)
• "bạc màu": Faded in color.
  • Tấm vải đã bạc màu vì nắng. (The fabric has faded from the sun.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bạc trắng (n): Sterling silver; real silver coinage.
• Đồng bạc (n): A piastre; a coin; money (general term).
• Con bạc (n): A gambler.
• Thợ bạc (n): A silversmith.
• Bàng bạc (adj): Vaguely visible; diffuse; tinged with silver (reduplicative form, attenuated meaning).
  • Ánh trăng bàng bạc trên sông. (The diffuse moonlight on the river.)

Synonyms

• Silver: Argent (poetic).
• Money: Cash, currency, piastre.
• Gambling: Gaming.
• Grey/White: Hoary, grizzled.
• Faded: Washed-out, discolored.
• Ungrateful: Thankless, unfaithful, disloyal.
• Meager: Scanty, paltry.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Tiền rừng bạc bể: To have immense wealth (literally: money like forests, silver like seas).
  • Gia đình họ có tiền rừng bạc bể. (Their family has immense wealth.)
• Bạc như vôi: To be utterly ungrateful and cold-hearted (literally: ungrateful like lime).
• Lòng son dạ bạc: To be duplicitous; to have a loyal appearance but a faithless heart.

noun

1. Silver
   • thợ bạc
     a silversmith
   • nhẫn bạc
     a silver ring
2. Piastre
   • vài chục bạc
     a few scores of piastres
   • ba trăm bạc
     three hundred piastres
3. Money gamble
   • đánh bạc
     to gamble
   • con bạc
     a gambler