Definition

1. Noun:

   • Soup: A liquid dish, typically savory, made by boiling ingredients like vegetables, meat, or fish in water or stock. It is a common part of a Vietnamese meal, often served with rice.
   • Warp: In weaving, the set of lengthwise threads that are held stationary on a loom, through which the weft is woven.
   • Night Watch: A traditional unit for dividing the night into five equal periods, used in historical timekeeping.
   • The Seventh Heavenly Stem: The seventh symbol in the ten-term system of "Heavenly Stems" (Thiên Can), used in the traditional East Asian calendrical system.

2. Verb:

   • To guard / To watch over: To keep watch, especially at night, to prevent trouble or danger.
   • To reduce / To thicken by evaporation: To cook a liquid over low heat to concentrate its flavor and consistency.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Soup):
  • Mẹ nấu nồi canh rau ngót thơm ngon. (Mother cooked a delicious pot of sowthistle leaf soup.)
  • Anh ấy ăn ba bát cơm với một bát canh. (He ate three bowls of rice with one bowl of soup.)
• Noun (Warp):
  • Trên khung cửi, canh và chỉ đan vào nhau. (On the loom, the warp and the weft are interlaced.)
• Noun (Night Watch):
  • Tiếng trống vang lên báo hiệu canh ba. (The drum sounded, announcing the third watch of the night.)
• Verb (To guard):
  • Người lính canh cổng thành cẩn thận. (The soldier guarded the city gate carefully.)
• Verb (To reduce):
  • Đầu bếp canh nước sốt cho đến khi nó sánh lại. (The chef reduced the sauce until it thickened.)

Advanced Usage

• "Canh bạc": A gambling session or round.
  • Canh bạc đó kéo dài suốt đêm. (That gambling session lasted all night.)
• "Cầm canh": To keep the night watch; to be on guard duty at night.
  • Người xưa dùng mõ và trống để cầm canh. (People in the past used wooden clappers and drums to keep the night watch.)

Variants and Related Words

• Canh rau (n): Vegetable soup.
• Canh hẹ (n): Chive soup.
• Canh giữ (v): To guard, to protect (a place).
• Canh chừng (v): To keep a close watch on, to monitor.

Synonyms

• Soup: broth, bouillon.
• Warp: (technical term, no common synonym).
• To guard: to watch, to patrol, to stand guard.
• To reduce: to thicken, to concentrate, to simmer down.

Related Idioms and Proverbs

• "Cơm dẻo, canh ngọt": Literally "soft rice, sweet soup"; used to describe a harmonious, comfortable, and happy life.
  • Họ sống với nhau trong cảnh cơm dẻo, canh ngọt. (They live together in harmony and comfort.)
• "Một con sâu làm rầu nồi canh": Literally "one maggot spoils the pot of soup"; equivalent to "one bad apple spoils the barrel."
  • Cậu ấy là một con sâu làm rầu nồi canh trong nhóm. (He is the bad apple that spoils the barrel in the group.)

noun

1. Soup
   • canh rau muống
     water morning-glory soup
   • canh ngọt
     tasty soup
   • thìa canh
     a soup-spoon, a table-spoon
2. Warp
   • canh tơ chỉ vải
     silk warp and cotton weft
3. Watch
   • tiếng mõ cầm canh
     the watch-announcing tocsin sound
   • hồi trống tan canh
     the watch-ending tomtom beating (announcing the end of the fifth watch and daybreak)