Definition

1. Noun:

   • Summer rice: A type of rice cultivated in Northern Vietnam, sown at the beginning of the dry, cold season (around the 10th or 11th lunar month) and harvested at the start of the hot, rainy season (around the 5th or 6th lunar month).
   • The summer rice crop: Refers to the agricultural season for this type of rice.

2. Adjective:

   • Pertaining to the 5th lunar month or summer: Used to describe crops, especially rice, associated with this season.
   • Out-of-season: Describes fruits that grow or are harvested outside their normal season.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Nông dân đang thu hoạch lúa chiêm. (Farmers are harvesting the summer rice.)
  • Vụ chiêm năm nay được mùa. (This year's summer crop is bountiful.)

• Adjective:

  • Đây là giống thóc chiêm. (This is a variety of summer paddy.)
  • Mẹ tôi mua được mấy quả ổi chiêm. (My mother bought some out-of-season guavas.)

Advanced Usage

• chiêm khê mùa thối: A proverbial phrase describing a complete crop failure, where both the summer () and autumn () rice crops are lost.
  • Năm đó chiêm khê mùa thối, đời sống nông dân vô cùng khó khăn. (That year, with the failure of both summer and autumn crops, farmers' lives were extremely difficult.)

Variants and Related Words

• vụ chiêm (n): The summer rice cropping season.
• lúa chiêm (n): Summer rice (the plant or grain).
• đồng chiêm (n): A field dedicated to growing summer rice.

Synonyms

• For the noun (summer rice): (summer rice) – Note: is the specific traditional term.
• For the adjective (out-of-season): (out-of-season).

Notes on Meaning

• The word 'chiêm' is deeply tied to the traditional agricultural calendar of Northern Vietnam and is less commonly used in modern, general contexts. It specifically refers to the rice crop cycle that culminates in the 5th lunar month.
• As an adjective meaning "out-of-season," it is often used colloquially for certain fruits like guava () or custard-apple ().

noun

1. Summer rice
   • cấy chiêm
     to transplant summer rice
   • đồng chiêm
     summer rice-fields
   • chiêm khê mùa thối
     failure of both summer and autumn crops

adj

1. (nói về thóc) Of the fifth lunar month, summer
   • thóc chiêm
     summer paddy
2. Out of season, late
   • ổi chiêm
     out-of-season guavas
   • na chiêm
     late custard-apples