mẹ kế
Definition
- Noun:
- Stepmother: A woman who is married to one's father but is not one's biological mother. This is the primary and most common meaning.
- Stepmother (in a polygamous context): Historically, in contexts of polygamy, the term could refer to a father's secondary wife who assumes a maternal role after the death of one's birth mother.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Mẹ kế của tôi rất tử tế. (My stepmother is very kind.)
- Sau khi mẹ ruột mất, bà ấy trở thành mẹ kế của anh ấy. (After his birth mother passed away, she became his stepmother.)
Advanced Usage
- The term "mẹ kế" can sometimes carry a neutral or negative cultural connotation, often depicted in folk tales as a less loving or antagonistic figure compared to the birth mother ("mẹ đẻ" or "mẹ ruột"). However, in modern usage, it is a standard, factual term.
Variants and Related Words
Mẹ ruột (n): Birth mother, biological mother.
- Cô ấy là mẹ ruột của bé. (She is the child's birth mother.)
Mẹ đẻ (n): Synonym for birth mother.
- Anh ấy rất yêu mẹ đẻ của mình. (He loves his birth mother very much.)
Dượng (n): Stepfather.
- Dượng tôi là một kiến trúc sư. (My stepfather is an architect.)
Synonyms
- Stepmother: The woman who married one's father.
- Stepmom (informal): A casual term for stepmother.
Related Idioms and Phrases
Con chồng, mẹ kế: A phrase describing the traditional, often difficult relationship between a stepchild and a stepmother.
- Câu chuyện cổ tích thường nói về mối quan hệ con chồng, mẹ kế. (Fairy tales often talk about the stepchild-stepmother relationship.)
Mẹ ghẻ: A derogatory term for a cruel or unkind stepmother.
- Nhân vật mẹ ghẻ trong truyện rất độc ác. (The stepmother character in the story is very cruel.)