Definition

1. Noun:
   • Soul; spirit: The spiritual or immaterial essence of a living being, often considered distinct from the physical body. It represents consciousness, personality, and life force.
   • Ghost; apparition: The disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person, believed to sometimes appear to the living.
   • Essence; vital quality: The animating, central, or most important quality that gives something its character, feeling, or life.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Anh ấy tin rằng mỗi người đều có một linh hồn bất tử. (He believes every person has an immortal soul.)
  • Ngôi nhà cũ đồn là có hồn ma. (The old house is rumored to have a ghost.)
  • Bài thơ này thiếu hồn. (This poem lacks soul/feeling.)

Advanced Usage

• "hồn vía": soul and vital spirit; often used to express being frightened out of one's wits.
  • Tôi sợ hồn vía lên mây. (I was scared out of my wits.)
• "mất hồn" / "hồn xiêu phách lạc": to be terrified; to be scared stiff (literally: soul wanders, spirit is lost).
  • Nghe tiếng động lạ, nó mất hồn chạy đi. (Hearing a strange noise, he ran away terrified.)
• "có hồn": to have soul/feeling; to be expressive or spirited (often used in art).
  • Bức tranh được vẽ rất có hồn. (The painting is drawn with great feeling.)

Variants and Related Words

• Linh hồn (n): soul, spirit (often with a religious or deeper connotation).
  • linh hồn của người đã khuất (the soul of the deceased)
• Hồn nhiên (adj): innocent, natural, unaffected (often describing children).
  • Đứa trẻ cười một cách hồn nhiên. (The child laughed innocently.)
• Thần hồn (n): mind, spirit, mental state (a more literary term).
  • Thần hồn bất định (to be in a state of mental agitation)

Synonyms

• Linh hồn: soul, spirit.
• Vía: vital spirit (often paired with "hồn").
• Ma: ghost, phantom (specifically for the apparition meaning).

Related Phrases

• "Cầu hồn": to summon/conjure a spirit.
  • Thầy phù thủy cầu hồn người chết. (The sorcerer summoned the spirit of the dead person.)
• "Giữ hồn": to preserve the essence/soul (of something, like a tradition or place).
  • Phải giữ hồn cho phố cổ. (We must preserve the soul of the old quarter.)

Related Idioms

• "Hồn bay phách lạc": to be frightened to death; utterly terrified (similar to "hồn xiêu phách lạc").
  • Gặp hổ, hắn hồn bay phách lạc. (Upon encountering a tiger, he was frightened to death.)
• "Khôn hồn": to be wise/sensible (often used as a warning: "be smart and...").
  • Khôn hồn thì đừng đến đó. (You'd be wise not to go there.)
• "Bán hồn cho quỷ": to sell one's soul to the devil.
  • Hắn như kẻ bán hồn cho quỷ. (He is like someone who sold his soul to the devil.)

noun

1. soul; spirit; ghost
   • cầu hồn
     to raise a spisit