Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Orphaned, parentless: "bồ côi" describes a person, especially a child, whose parents have died.
   • Lacking support or protection: It can figuratively describe a state of being alone, abandoned, or without essential support.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Đứa trẻ bồ côi đó rất đáng thương. (That orphaned child is very pitiful.)
  • Sau trận chiến, nhiều đứa trẻ trở thành bồ côi. (After the battle, many children became orphans.)

Advanced Usage Notes

• "bồ côi" is an archaic or literary variant of the modern standard word "mồ côi". Its usage today is rare and primarily found in older texts, poetry, or specific regional dialects.
• It is used identically to "mồ côi" but carries a more classical or formal tone.

Variants and Related Words

• Mồ côi (adj): The standard modern Vietnamese word for "orphaned".
  • Nó mồ côi cha từ nhỏ. (He has been fatherless since childhood.)
• Trẻ mồ côi / Trẻ bồ côi (n): Orphan (child).
  • Nhà trẻ mồ côi (orphanage)

Synonyms

• Mồ côi: Orphaned (the direct and most common synonym).
• Cô nhi (n, literary): Orphan (a more formal/literary noun).

Related Phrases and Idioms

• Bồ côi cha / mẹ: To be fatherless / motherless.
  • Nó bồ côi mẹ từ lúc lên năm. (He has been motherless since he was five.)
• Cảnh bồ côi: The state/condition of being an orphan.
  • Sống trong cảnh bồ côi (To live as an orphan)

1. như mồ côi