Definition

1. Verb:

   • To avoid, to abstain from; to be incompatible with: Refers to refraining from something due to taboo, conflict, or negative consequence. It also describes elements that clash or are unfavorable when combined.
   • To fear, to dread: An older or literary usage meaning to be afraid of.

2. Noun:

   • Death anniversary: A ceremony commemorating the death of an ancestor, observed on the specific date of their passing.
   • Generation (in kinship): Used to indicate a gap of three generations, as in a great-great-grandparent relationship.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • Bệnh nhân phải kị chất béo. (The patient must avoid fat.)
  • Hai màu này kị nhau. (These two colors clash with each other.)
  • Cổ nhân kị hổ. (The ancients feared tigers.)

• Noun:

  • Cả gia đình sum họp ngày giỗ kị. (The whole family gathers on the death anniversary.)
  • Cụ ấy là kị của tôi. (He is my great-great-grandfather.)

Advanced Usage

• "kiêng kị": A compound meaning to taboo or abstain from strictly, often for cultural or superstitious reasons.

  • Người theo đạo có nhiều điều kiêng kị. (Followers of the religion have many taboos.)

• "tương kị": To be mutually incompatible or antagonistic.

  • Hai nhân vật này tương kị trong truyện. (These two characters are antagonistic in the story.)

Variants and Related Words

• Kị khí (n): Antipathy, mutual aversion.

  • Họ có kị khí từ lâu. (They have had an antipathy for a long time.)

• Kị liệt (adj): Intense, fierce, violent.

  • Cuộc tranh luận diễn ra kị liệt. (The debate was fierce.)

Synonyms

• Avoid: To keep away from.
• Taboo: A social or cultural prohibition.
• Clash: To conflict or be incompatible.
• Anniversary: A date commemorating an event, especially a death.

Related Idioms

• Kiêng cữ: To observe dietary or behavioral restrictions, especially after an illness or childbirth.

  • Sau mổ, bà ấy phải kiêng cữ đủ thứ. (After surgery, she had to abstain from all sorts of things.)

• Kị giờ: An inauspicious or unfavorable hour (according to superstition).

  • Ông bà xưa hay xem kị giờ để xuất hành. (Elders in the past often checked for inauspicious hours before traveling.)