Definition

Noun: 1. Pot, cooking pot: A deep, rounded vessel, typically made of metal (e.g., aluminum, iron) or clay, used for cooking food over heat. 2. Hub cup, cup: A cup-shaped component, especially in a bearing assembly (e.g., of a bicycle), that holds the ball bearings. 3. A traditional, folk unit of measurement: A unit, now largely obsolete, used historically to measure the volume of grains like rice or glutinous rice.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Cooking pot): (Mom is cooking rice in the rice cooker.) (My grandmother still prefers to use an earthen pot to braise fish.)
• Noun (Bearing cup): (This bicycle needs a new bottom bracket cup. / This bicycle needs its bottom bracket hub replaced.)
• Noun (Traditional unit): (In the past, my family often harvested several dozen "nồi" of paddy rice.)

Advanced Usage

• "Nồi đồng, niêu đất": An idiom meaning "a bronze pot and an earthen pot," used to describe things that are fundamentally different and cannot be compared, or to imply that everything/one has its own value and place. (Comparing those two works is like comparing apples and oranges.)
• "Nồi nào vung ấy": A proverb literally meaning "every pot has its own lid." It is used to say that people (often couples) are well-matched, sharing similar traits, backgrounds, or temperaments. (They argue all the time; truly, birds of a feather flock together.)

Variants and Related Words

• Nồi cơm điện (n): Rice cooker.
• Nồi áp suất (n): Pressure cooker.
• Nồi hơi (n): Boiler (in mechanical/industrial contexts).
• Niêu (n): A small earthenware pot or cauldron.
• Xoong (n): Saucepan, a cooking pot with handles, typically shallower than a .

Synonyms

• Ấm (n): Pot, kettle (usually for boiling water).
• Vạc (n): Large cauldron.
• Chảo (n): Frying pan, skillet (for frying).

Related Phrases (Collocations)

• Đặt nồi lên bếp: To put the pot on the stove.
• Nấu bằng nồi: To cook using a pot.
• Cơm trong nồi: Rice in the pot.
• Nồi nhôm: Aluminum pot.
• Nồi inox: Stainless steel pot.

Related Idioms

• Cơm chẳng lành, canh chẳng ngọt: Literally "the rice isn't good, the soup isn't sweet," meaning domestic discord, a troubled household. This often implies problems originating from the kitchen or home life.
• Nhà có nồi, văn có chõ: An old saying highlighting essential household items ( - pot for rice, - steamer for sticky rice), meaning having the necessary basics or tools for a job.

noun

1. pot