Definition

1. Noun:
   • A multi-storied house, a building with multiple floors: Refers to a house or structure that has more than one level, often implying a certain grandeur or permanence.
   • An upper floor, a story (of a building): Specifically denotes a floor above the ground level.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Multi-storied house):

  • Gia đình ông ấy sống trong một ngôi nhà lầu. (His family lives in a multi-storied house.)
  • Thành phố ngày càng có nhiều tòa nhà lầu. (The city has more and more multi-storied buildings.)

• Noun (Upper floor):

  • Thư viện nằm trên lầu. (The library is on the upper floor.)
  • Cô ấy chạy xuống lầu để mở cửa. (She ran down from the upper floor to open the door.)

Advanced Usage

• "lầu xanh": A historical euphemism for a brothel. This is a fixed compound phrase.

  • Từ "lầu xanh" trong văn học cổ thường chỉ nhà chứa. (The term "lầu xanh" in classical literature often refers to a brothel.)

• "lầu son gác tía": An idiom describing lavishly decorated, magnificent palaces or mansions (made of red lacquer and purple towers). It symbolizes extreme luxury and high status.

  • Giấc mơ lầu son gác tía của hắn không bao giờ thành hiện thực. (His dream of living in a magnificent palace never came true.)

Variants and Related Words

• Gác (noun): Loft, attic; also used colloquially to mean an upper floor. "Lầu" and "gác" are sometimes used interchangeably in casual speech for "upstairs," though "lầu" can sound more substantial.
• Tầng (noun): Floor, level, story. A more modern and neutral term for a floor of a building (e.g., tầng 1, tầng 2).
• Nhà tầng (noun phrase): A house with floors/stories. A descriptive phrase similar in meaning to the first definition of "lầu."

Synonyms

• Nhà cao tầng: High-rise building. Emphasizes the height and number of floors more than "lầu."
• Gác: Attic/loft/upper floor (see Variants).
• Tầng trên: Upper floor/story. A descriptive synonym for the second definition.

Related Phrases / Compound Words

• Lên lầu: To go upstairs (to the upper floor).
  • Bữa sáng đã sẵn sàng, mời cả nhà lên lầu dùng bữa. (Breakfast is ready, please come upstairs to eat, everyone.)
• Xuống lầu: To go downstairs (from the upper floor).
  • Anh ta vội vã xuống lầu khi nghe thấy tiếng chuông. (He hurried downstairs when he heard the bell.)

Related Idioms

• "Lầu ông Hoàng": Literally "Mr. Hoàng's tower." Refers to a famous historical site and poetic inspiration in Phan Thiết, Vietnam. It is often used metaphorically in poetry to evoke a sense of romantic longing and lyrical beauty.
  • Thơ của Hàn Mặc Tử thường nhắc đến Lầu ông Hoàng. (The poetry of Hàn Mặc Tử often mentions the "Lầu ông Hoàng.")

noun

1. multi-storied house
   • xây nhà lầu
     to build multi-storied houseupper floor
   • đi lên lầu
     to go to the upper floor