Definition

1. Noun:
   • Conscripted labourer; civilian labourer: A citizen performing mandatory, often manual, public service labour for a defined period, typically for state projects or national defense efforts.
   • Civic worker: A person mobilized for organized communal or national work duties.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Đoàn dân công đắp đê. (A gang of conscripted labourers was strengthening a dyke.)
  • Ông nội tôi từng đi dân công phục vụ tiền tuyến. (My grandfather once served as a civilian labourer for the front lines.)
  • Huy động dân công sửa đường. (To mobilize civilian labourers to repair the road.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is historically significant, often associated with mass mobilization during the Indochina Wars and for post-war reconstruction, implying organized, non-military state service.

Variants and Related Words

• Lao động công ích (n): community service labour; public utility work.
  • Anh ta bị phạt lao động công ích. (He was sentenced to community service.)

Synonyms

• Labourer: A person doing unskilled manual work.
• Conscript: A person enlisted compulsorily, typically into military or labour service.
• Civic worker: A worker engaged in public projects.

Related Idioms

• Đi dân công: To go on a conscripted labour assignment.
  • Thanh niên trong làng phải đi dân công mỗi mùa đông. (The young people in the village had to go on conscripted labour assignments every winter.)

1. Conscripted labourer
   • Đoàn dân công đắp đê
     A gang of conscripted labourers was stengthening a dyke