Definition

Verb: - To rear; to bring up; to nurture: The primary meaning is to raise, care for, and educate a child or young person, helping them develop physically and intellectually.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Bà mẹ rất chú tâm dục con. (The mother is very focused on rearing her child.)
  • Công việc dục trẻ đòi hỏi nhiều kiên nhẫn. (The work of bringing up children requires a lot of patience.)

Advanced Usage

• "dục thành nhân tài": to nurture/bring up to become a talented person.
  • Nhà trường và gia đình cùng nhau dục thành nhân tài cho đất nước. (The school and family work together to nurture talents for the country.)

Variants and Related Words

• Giáo dục (v/n): To educate; education. (This is a compound word where "dục" is a component meaning "to nurture").
• Dưỡng dục (v): To nurture and rear; to foster.
• Nuôi dưỡng (v): To nourish; to foster. (A near-synonym focusing on the physical care aspect).

Synonyms

• Nuôi nấng: To raise; to bring up (often with a strong connotation of physical care and provision).
• Chăm sóc: To care for; to look after.
• Dạy dỗ: To teach and instruct (focuses more on the educational aspect).

Important Note on Different Meanings

The word "dục" is a homograph. The definition provided here (to rear) is its meaning in formal, literary contexts, often found in compound words. It is crucially different from the more common, standalone word "dục" (noun/verb), which means "desire" or "lust" (e.g., tham dục - greed; dục vọng - carnal desire). Learners must rely on context to distinguish these two entirely separate words.

verb

1. to rear; to bring up