Definition

1. Noun:
   • Rheum, eye discharge, sleep (in one's eyes): A crusty or sticky substance, often yellowish or whitish, that accumulates in the corners of the eyes during sleep or due to an eye condition like conjunctivitis.
   • Gound (less common term): A more technical or less common synonym for the dried mucus from the eyes.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Sáng ngủ dậy, mắt tôi có nhiều ghèn. (When I woke up this morning, I had a lot of sleep/rheum in my eyes.)
  • Con bị đau mắt đỏ, mắt đầy ghèn. (My child has pink eye, and their eye is full of discharge.)
  • Anh ấy dụi mắt để lấy ghèn ra. (He rubbed his eye to remove the gunk.)

Advanced Usage

• "Ghèn mắt": This is a common compound phrase specifying "eye rheum." While "ghèn" alone typically refers to the eyes, this phrase adds clarity.
  • Vệ sinh ghèn mắt cho trẻ sơ sinh cần phải nhẹ nhàng. (Cleaning eye discharge from a newborn needs to be done gently.)

Variants and Related Words

• Dử mắt (noun): The standard Vietnamese term for "eye discharge" or "rheum." "Ghèn" is considered a dialectal variant of "dử mắt."
  • Bác sĩ hỏi: "Mắt cháu có nhiều dử không?" (The doctor asked, "Does your eye have a lot of discharge?")
• Gỉ mắt (noun, Northern dialect): Another common, colloquial term for eye sleep/rheum.
  • Cậu bé vẫn còn gỉ mắt đầy ở khóe mắt. (The boy still had a lot of sleep in the corner of his eye.)

Synonyms

• Eye discharge: The general medical term.
• Sleep (in one's eyes): A very common, informal English term.
• Rheum: The formal biological/medical term for the thin mucus naturally discharged from the eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Gound: A specialized, less common term.

Related Phrases

• Đóng ghèn: To be crusted with sleep/rheum.
  • Mắt em bé đóng ghèn lại vì bị cảm. (The baby's eyes were crusted with sleep because of a cold.)
• Chảy ghèn: For the eye to have discharging rheum (often implying an infection).
  • Mắt bên phải của cô ấy đang chảy ghèn vàng. (Her right eye is discharging yellow pus/rheum.)

Notes on Usage

• Register: "Ghèn" is primarily used in colloquial speech and is considered a dialectal word (đph = địa phương). The more standard, nationally understood terms are "dử mắt" or "gỉ mắt."
• Context: It almost exclusively refers to discharge from the eyes. Using it for nasal mucus, for example, would be incorrect and confusing.
• Connotation: The word is neutral but describes a bodily substance often considered unpleasant. It is appropriate for casual conversation and describing symptoms to a doctor, but may be avoided in very formal writing where "dử mắt" or a description like "eye discharge" might be preferred.

1. (tiếng địa phương) Rheum (gum on the edge of the eyelids)
   • Mắt đau đầy ghèn
     a sore eye full of rheum