Definition

1. Noun:
   • Worm: A small, soft-bodied, legless, elongated invertebrate animal. This is the primary and most common meaning.
   • Earthworm: Specifically refers to the type of worm that lives in soil (a shortened form of "giun đất").
   • Parasitic worm: Refers to various types of worms (e.g., roundworms, tapeworms) that live as parasites in the bodies of humans or animals.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trẻ con thường đào giun để câu cá. (Children often dig for worms to go fishing.)
  • Con mèo ăn phải giun nên bị ốm. (The cat got sick because it ate a worm.)
  • Bác sĩ kê đơn thuốc tẩy giun cho bé. (The doctor prescribed deworming medicine for the child.)

Advanced Usage

• "Con giun xéo lắm cũng quằn": This is a proverb. It literally means "Even a worm, if stepped on too much, will writhe." It is used to convey that everyone has a limit to their patience; even the meekest person will eventually react if pushed too far.
  • Anh ta vốn hiền lành, nhưng con giun xéo lắm cũng quằn, anh ấy không thể chịu đựng mãi được. (He is gentle by nature, but even a worm will turn; he cannot endure it forever.)

Variants and Related Words

• Giun đất (n): Earthworm.
  • Giun đất giúp làm tơi xốp đất. (Earthworms help to aerate the soil.)
• Giun chỉ (n): Filarial worm.
• Giun đũa (n): Roundworm (Ascaris).
• Giun kim (n): Pinworm, threadworm.
• Giun sán (n): A general term for parasitic flatworms and tapeworms.
• Sán (n): Fluke, tapeworm (a specific type of parasitic flatworm, often grouped with "giun" in common speech).
• Tẩy giun (v): To deworm, to take anthelmintic medicine.

Synonyms

• Sâu (n): This word can also mean "worm," but it more commonly refers to insect larvae (caterpillars, maggots) or borers. "Giun" typically refers to annelids (like earthworms) or parasitic helminths, not insect larvae.
  • Sâu bướm (caterpillar) vs. Giun đất (earthworm).

Notes on Different Meanings

• The word "giun" (from French ) as a unit of energy (joule) is an extremely rare, technical homonym. In virtually all everyday and general contexts, "giun" means worm. The unit of measurement is almost always referred to by its English name "joule" in modern Vietnamese scientific contexts.

noun

1. worm