Definition

1. Adjective:
   • First-class, first-grade, top-tier: A term, now considered archaic or literary, used to classify something as belonging to the highest rank, grade, or quality within a hierarchical system.
   • First-rate, excellent: Describes something of the utmost quality or superiority.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Ruộng nhất đẳng thường cho năng suất rất cao. (First-class rice fields usually yield very high productivity.)
  • Dưới thời phong kiến, quan lại nhất đẳng có quyền lực rất lớn. (During the feudal period, first-grade mandarins held great power.)
  • Đó là một khách sạn nhất đẳng với dịch vụ hoàn hảo. (That is a first-rate hotel with perfect service.)

Advanced Usage

• This word is primarily found in historical, literary, or formal contexts. In modern Vietnamese, synonyms like "hạng nhất," "loại một," or "cao cấp nhất" are more commonly used in everyday language.
• It was often used in official classifications, such as land grades (điền hạng) or bureaucratic ranks.

Variants and Related Words

• Nhất: (Number, Adjective) First; the best. Often used as a prefix to indicate top rank (e.g., nhất hạng, nhất phẩm).
• Đẳng: (Noun) Grade, rank, level. A Sino-Vietnamese morpheme found in words related to classification (e.g., đẳng cấp - class/rank, cấp đẳng - hierarchical level).
• Nhất hạng: (Adjective) A near-synonym meaning "first-class" or "top-grade."

Synonyms

• Hạng nhất: First class, top grade.
• Loại một: Type one, first rate.
• Thượng hạng: Top grade, superior class.
• Ưu tú: Excellent, outstanding (more general).

Notes on Meaning

• The core meaning consistently relates to being at the pinnacle of a ranked system. The provided example "nhất đẳng điền" (first-class rice fields) perfectly illustrates its use in a historical socio-economic context for classifying agricultural land quality.
• It does not typically describe abstract concepts like "the best" in a general, unranked sense (e.g., "the best friend"). For that, words like "tốt nhất" or "hay nhất" are used.

1. (cũ) First-class, first-grade, first-rate
   • Nhất đẳng điền
     First-class rice fields