Definition

1. Verb:
   • To encrust; to inlay; to enchase: The primary meaning refers to the decorative art technique of embedding pieces of material (such as mother-of-pearl, metal, or gemstones) into a recessed surface of another material (like wood or lacquer) to create a pattern or picture.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Người nghệ nhân đang khảm xà cừ lên mặt bàn. (The artisan is inlaying mother-of-pearl onto the tabletop.)
  • Chiếc tủ cổ này được khảm rất tinh xảo bằng vàng và ngọc. (This antique cabinet is exquisitely encrusted with gold and jade.)
  • Kỹ thuật khảm trai là một nghề thủ công truyền thống. (The technique of inlaying with shell is a traditional craft.)

Advanced Usage

• "khảm cẩn": A compound term specifically referring to the art of inlaying, often with precious materials.
  • Nghệ thuật khảm cẩn Huế rất nổi tiếng. (The inlaying art of Hue is very famous.)
• Used metaphorically in colloquial language to describe skin marked with many deep, dark scars from old sores.
  • Da anh ấy bị khảm vì bệnh thuỷ đậu hồi nhỏ. (His skin is pitted with scars from chickenpox when he was a child.)

Variants and Related Words

• Khảm xà cừ (phrase): To inlay with mother-of-pearl.
• Đồ khảm (noun): Inlaid object; an item decorated with inlay work.
• Nghề khảm (noun): The craft or trade of inlaying.

Synonyms

• Cẩn: To inlay (often used interchangeably with , but can sometimes imply a finer, more precise setting).
• Gắn: To attach, to set (a more general term for fixing one thing onto another).

Notes on Different Meanings

1. Verb (Primary): The act of inlaying or encrusting for decoration.
2. Noun (Archaic): In ancient cosmology, (坎) is the name of the second trigram () in the (Eight Trigrams), representing the element Water and the North direction. This usage is now primarily found in classical texts, philosophy, and feng shui.
   • Quẻ Khảm tượng trưng cho nước. (The Khảm trigram symbolizes water.)

verb

1. to encrust; to inlay; to enchase