Definition

1. Noun phrase:
   • The four seas: A traditional Vietnamese concept referring to the four cardinal directions (east, west, south, north) and their associated seas, symbolizing the entire world or all lands under heaven.
   • The whole world, all corners of the earth: Used metaphorically to mean everywhere, the entire globe, or all of humanity.

Usage Examples

• Noun phrase:
  • Anh ấy đã đi khắp bốn biển. (He has traveled to the four corners of the earth.)
  • Tinh thần đoàn kết bốn biển một nhà. (The spirit of solidarity where the whole world is one family.)

Advanced Usage

• "bốn biển một nhà": An idiom meaning "the whole world is one family," expressing a sense of global unity, brotherhood, or universal kinship.

  • Hòa bình và hữu nghị, bốn biển một nhà. (Peace and friendship, the whole world is one family.)

• "khắp năm châu bốn biển": A fixed phrase meaning "all over the five continents and the four seas," i.e., all over the world.

  • Tin tức lan truyền khắp năm châu bốn biển. (The news spread all over the world.)

Variants and Related Words

• bốn bể (noun phrase): A synonymous term with the same meaning as "bốn biển" (the four seas/the whole world).
  • Tôi nguyện đi khắp bốn bể. (I vow to travel across the four seas.)

Synonyms

• khắp nơi: everywhere.
• toàn thế giới: the whole world.
• thiên hạ: the world, everyone under heaven.

Related Idioms

• bốn biển một nhà: (as explained above) The whole world is one family.
• khắp năm châu bốn biển: (as explained above) All over the five continents and the four seas; throughout the entire world.

1. The four corners of the earth, the five continents, the whole world
   • bốn biển một nhà
     the whole world is one family
   • khắp năm châu bốn biển
     to the four corners of the earth, over the five continents, all over the world