Definition

1. Noun:
   • Loyal servant: "nghĩa bộc" refers to a servant who is exceptionally faithful, devoted, and loyal to their master. The term carries a sense of deep, principled loyalty, not just employment.
   • Archaic term: This is a classical, literary term (marked "từ cũ") and is rarely used in modern, everyday Vietnamese. It is found in historical texts, classical literature, or used for stylistic effect.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Ông ấy là một nghĩa bộc của gia đình chúng tôi. (He is a loyal servant of our family.)
  • Câu chuyện ca ngợi tấm lòng của người nghĩa bộc. (The story praises the heart of the loyal servant.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is used to describe a profound, almost virtuous level of service and loyalty, often implying a long-term, familial bond between the servant and the household.
• It can be used metaphorically in modern contexts to describe someone who is extremely devoted to a cause, leader, or organization, though this is stylistically marked as literary or formal.

Variants and Related Words

• Gia nhân (n): A more general, also somewhat classical term for a servant or retainer in a household.
• Đầy tớ (n): The standard modern word for "servant." "Nghĩa bộc" specifies the quality of being a servant.
• Người giúp việc (n): The contemporary, neutral term for "domestic helper" or "housekeeper."

Synonyms

• Đầy tớ trung thành: Literally "loyal servant," a direct synonym.
• Tôi tớ trung nghĩa: A servant of loyalty and righteousness (also classical).

Related Idioms/Phrases

• Làm nghĩa bộc: To serve as a loyal servant.
  • Ông ấy đã làm nghĩa bộc cho dòng họ này suốt đời. (He served as a loyal servant for this clan his entire life.)

1. (từ cũ) Loyal servant