Definition

Noun: - Adoptive daughter: A female child who is legally and socially raised by someone who is not her biological parent, with the relationship established through formal adoption or long-term caregiving. This term is considered old-fashioned or literary in modern Vietnamese.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Bà ấy coi cô bé mồ côi như một người dưỡng nữ. (She treats the orphan girl as an adoptive daughter.)
  • Trong gia phả, bà được ghi chú là dưỡng nữ của cụ tổ. (In the family annals, she is noted as the patriarch's adoptive daughter.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "dưỡng nữ" is primarily found in historical, literary, or formal contexts. In contemporary everyday language, the phrase "con gái nuôi" is far more common and neutral.
• It can imply a formal, traditional context of adoption, often within extended family structures or under specific historical social customs.

Variants and Related Words

• Con gái nuôi (n): The standard, modern term for "adoptive daughter."
• Dưỡng tử (n, archaic): Adoptive son. The male counterpart to "dưỡng nữ."
• Nhận nuôi (v): To adopt.
• Con đẻ / Con ruột (n): Biological child / own child.

Synonyms

• Con gái nuôi: Adoptive daughter (modern synonym).
• Con gái được nhận làm con nuôi: Daughter taken in as an adopted child (descriptive synonym).

Notes on Meaning

• The term carries the core meaning of a daughter through nurture and care ("dưỡng" means to nurture, nourish, or care for), rather than by birth. It does not refer to a stepdaughter (con ghẻ) or a goddaughter (con gái đỡ đầu).
• Its archaic nature ("cũ") means it is rarely used in spoken language today but may be encountered in historical documents, literature, or period dramas.

1. (cũ) Adoptive daughter