mẹ

Thân thiện

Mẹ đang đọc sách cho con nghe trên chiếc ghế bành.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Mother: A female parent; the woman who gives birth to and/or raises a child.
   • Stepmother: A woman who is married to one's father but is not one's biological mother (often specified as "mẹ ghẻ").
   • Matriarch / Mother figure: A woman who provides care, protection, or leadership in a manner likened to a mother.
   • Source or origin: The main or original part from which other things develop (used metaphorically).

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Mẹ tôi là giáo viên. (My mother is a teacher.)
  • Đàn gà con theo mẹ. (The chicks follow their mother hen.)
  • Cô ấy như một người mẹ của cả đội. (She is like a mother to the whole team.)
  • Tiền lãi mẹ sinh lãi con. (The principal generates interest.)

Advanced Usage

• "mẹ ghẻ": stepmother (often carries a connotation of being harsh or unkind in folk tales).

  • Trong truyện cổ tích, mẹ ghẻ thường đối xử tệ với con chồng. (In fairy tales, the stepmother often treats her stepchildren poorly.)

• "mẹ đỡ đầu": godmother.

  • Mẹ đỡ đầu của em bé tặng một món quà rất đẹp. (The baby's godmother gave a very beautiful gift.)

• "mẹ tròn con vuông": a safe and successful childbirth (a traditional idiom expressing well-being for both mother and newborn).

  • Cả gia đình cầu mong mẹ tròn con vuông. (The whole family prayed for a safe delivery.)

Variants and Related Words

• Má (n): a common Southern Vietnamese colloquial term for mother.

  • Má dặn tôi phải về sớm. (Mom told me to come home early.)

• Mạ (n): a regional (Central Vietnamese) colloquial term for mother.

• U (n): a Northern rural colloquial term for mother.
• Bầm (n): a poetic or rustic term for mother.

Synonyms

• Mother: mom, mum, mama.
• Parent: female parent.
• Matriarch: female head of a family.
• Origin: source, root, origin.

Related Idioms

• Mẹ hát con khen hay: Literally "the mother sings, the child praises it as good"; similar to "like mother, like child" or indicating blind praise from one's own.

  • Cô ấy khen tranh con mình vẽ, đúng là mẹ hát con khen hay. (She praised her child's painting, truly a case of a mother's bias.)

• Bên cha cũng kính bên mẹ cũng vái: Literally "on the father's side, one shows respect; on the mother's side, one shows reverence"; to try to please or show deference to two opposing sides, to sit on the fence.

  • Anh ấy cứ bên cha cũng kính bên mẹ cũng vái, không dám đưa ra ý kiến. (He keeps trying to please both sides and doesn't dare voice an opinion.)

Học thuật

noun

1. mother
   • mẹ ghẻ
     stepmother