Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small table or low stand: A piece of furniture, typically low and used for holding items like tea sets, often ornately decorated.
   • The sixth Heavenly Stem: The sixth term in the traditional East Asian system of ten Heavenly Stems (Thiên Can), used in calendrical and cyclical systems.
   • (Geology) Period: A major unit of geological time, a subdivision of an era.

Usage Examples

• Noun (small table):
  • Trên kỷ đặt một ấm trà cổ. (A vintage teapot is placed on the small table.)
  • Kỷ chè khảm xà cừ rất tinh xảo. (The mother-of-pearl inlaid tea-table is very exquisite.)
• Noun (Heavenly Stem):
  • Năm nay là năm Kỷ Hợi. (This year is the year of Kỷ Hợi [the sixth stem combined with the twelfth branch].)
• Noun (geological period):
  • Khủng long phát triển mạnh vào kỷ Jura. (Dinosaurs thrived during the Jurassic period.)

Advanced Usage

• "kỷ niệm": This is a distinct compound word meaning "memory," "souvenir," or "anniversary." It is not a direct usage of "kỷ" alone but a common related term.
  • Đây là kỷ niệm đẹp thời sinh viên. (This is a beautiful memory from university days.)

Variants and Related Words

• Kỷ nguyên (n): Era, epoch.
  • Kỷ nguyên số đã thay đổi toàn bộ cuộc sống. (The digital era has changed all of life.)
• Kỷ lục (n): Record (e.g., world record).
  • Cô ấy đã phá kỷ lục thế giới. (She broke the world record.)
• Kỷ luật (n): Discipline.
  • Quân đội cần có kỷ luật nghiêm minh. (The army needs strict discipline.)
• Kỷ vật (n): Keepsake, memento.
  • Chiếc nhẫn là kỷ vật của bà. (The ring is my grandmother's keepsake.)

Synonyms

• Small table: stand, tea table.
• Heavenly Stem: (no direct synonym; it is a specific cultural term).
• Period (geology): age, epoch (note: in geology, "epoch" is a smaller subdivision).

Related Terms and Notes

• Thập Can (Ten Heavenly Stems): The full sequence is: Giáp, Ất, Bính, Đinh, Mậu, Kỷ, Canh, Tân, Nhâm, Quý. "Kỷ" is the sixth.
• Important Distinction: The word "kỷ" itself is a Sino-Vietnamese morpheme. Its core meanings are distinct from its more common uses in modern compounds like (memory) or (discipline). The definitions above are for the standalone word.

1. Small table
   • kỷ chè khảm xà cừ
     A small mother-of-pearl inlaid tea-table
2. The sixth Heavenly stem.
3. (địa lý) Period
   • Kỷ Giu-ra
     Jurassic period