Definition

1. Noun:
   • Sun helmet: A type of hard hat with a brim, originally made with a cork core and covered in fabric, designed to protect the head from the sun, especially in tropical climates.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Các nhà thám hiểm thường đội mũ cát để chống nắng. (Explorers often wear sun helmets to protect themselves from the sun.)
  • Chiếc mũ cát là một phần trang phục đặc trưng của thời thuộc địa. (The sun helmet was a characteristic part of colonial-era attire.)

Advanced Usage

• Historical/Cultural Context: The "mũ cát" is strongly associated with European colonial officials, explorers, and soldiers in tropical regions like Southeast Asia and Africa during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It symbolizes a specific historical period and lifestyle.
  • Trong nhiều bộ phim về Đông Dương, nhân vật người Pháp luôn đội mũ cát. (In many films about Indochina, the French characters always wear sun helmets.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nón lá (n): Conical hat. A traditional Vietnamese hat made from palm leaves, also used for sun protection but culturally and materially distinct from the "mũ cát".
• Mũ (n): A general term for hat or cap.
• Mũ cứng (n): Hard hat. A general term for protective headgear, which includes but is not limited to the "mũ cát".

Synonyms

• Pith helmet: Another common English term for "mũ cát", referring to the same type of headgear, historically made from the pith of the sola plant or cork.
• Topee / Topi: Terms of South Asian origin used for a sun helmet.

Related Phrases / Compound Nouns

• Mũ cát li-e: This phrase specifies the cork ("li-e") material of the traditional core.
  • Bảo tàng trưng bày một chiếc mũ cát li-e cổ. (The museum displays an old cork sun helmet.)

1. Sun-helmet