Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Filial; pious: Demonstrating the traditional virtues of love, respect, and dutiful care towards one's parents and ancestors. This is the most common and culturally significant meaning.
   • Mourning: Relating to the period or rituals following the death of a parent or elder.

2. Noun:

   • Filial piety: The virtue and practice of reverence and duty towards one's parents and family.
   • Mourning period; funeral rites: Specifically refers to the observances and ceremonies for a deceased parent or elder.

3. Verb (Archaic/Literary):

   • To have a fondness for; to like: Used as a bound morpheme in compound words, meaning to have an inclination or love for something.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • Người con đó rất có hiếu. (That child is very filial.)
  • Gia đình đang trong thời kỳ hiếu. (The family is in the mourning period.)

• Noun:

  • Hiếu là một đạo lý quan trọng. (Filial piety is an important moral principle.)
  • Việc hiếu đã được chuẩn bị chu đáo. (The funeral rites have been prepared thoroughly.)

Advanced Usage

• As a prefix, "hiếu" combines with other words to form adjectives describing a strong liking or propensity.
  • hiếu học: fond of learning, studious.

    • Cậu bé rất hiếu học. (The boy is very studious.)
  • hiếu khách: hospitable (fond of guests).

    • Người dân ở đây nổi tiếng hiếu khách. (The people here are famous for being hospitable.)
  • hiếu chiến: bellicose, warlike (fond of fighting).

    • Một chính sách hiếu chiến. (A bellicose policy.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hiếu thảo (adj): Filial, dutiful and obedient to parents. A stronger, more complete term for filial piety.
  • Một người con hiếu thảo. (A filial child.)
• Hiếu hỉ (n): A compound word meaning "joy and sorrow," often referring to the occasions of weddings (hỉ) and funerals (hiếu).
  • Việc hiếu hỉ trong làng. (The funeral and wedding affairs in the village.)

Synonyms

• Filial: Of or due from a son or daughter.
• Dutiful: Conscientiously fulfilling one's obligations.
• Mourning: The expression of sorrow for someone's death.
• Devotion: Love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person or activity.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Có hiếu: To be filial.
  • Làm con phải biết có hiếu. (As a child, one must know to be filial.)
• Báo hiếu: To repay one's filial duty (to parents).
  • Anh ấy làm việc chăm chỉ để báo hiếu cha mẹ. (He works hard to repay his filial duty to his parents.)
• Đạo hiếu: The way of filial piety; the doctrine of filial duty.
  • Đạo hiếu là nền tảng của văn hóa. (Filial piety is the foundation of the culture.)

adj

1. pious

noun

1. mourning

verb

1. to have; to like; to be fond of