tù ngục
Definition
- Noun:
- Prison; jail; penitentiary: A place where individuals are confined as punishment for crimes or while awaiting trial. It refers to the physical institution and the general state of incarceration.
- Imprisonment; incarceration: The condition or experience of being deprived of liberty and held in a prison.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Hàng ngàn người đã bị giam trong tù ngục. (Thousands of people were imprisoned in jail.)
- Cuộc sống trong tù ngục rất khắc nghiệt. (Life in prison is very harsh.)
- Hắn phải đối mặt với nhiều năm tù ngục. (He faces many years of imprisonment.)
Advanced Usage
- The term "tù ngục" is often used in formal, literary, or journalistic contexts to emphasize the severity, suffering, or injustice associated with confinement. It carries a heavier, more solemn connotation than the more common word "nhà tù".
Variants and Related Words
Nhà tù (n): Prison, jail. A more common, neutral term for the physical building.
- Bọn tội phạm bị đưa vào nhà tù. (The criminals were taken to prison.)
Giam cầm (v): To imprison, to detain.
- Chính quyền đã giam cầm các nhà bất đồng chính kiến. (The authorities imprisoned the dissidents.)
Ngục tù (n): A less common, poetic variant with the same meaning as "tù ngục".
Synonyms
- Prison: A building for the confinement of criminals.
- Jail: A place for the detention of persons awaiting trial or convicted of minor crimes.
- Incarceration: The state of being confined in prison.
- Dungeon (in historical/literary contexts): A dark, often underground prison cell.
Related Idioms
Tù ngục khổ sai: Hard labor prison; penal servitude.
- Án tù ngục khổ sai là hình phạt nặng nhất. (A sentence of hard labor was the most severe punishment.)
Vào tù ra ngục: To be in and out of prison (repeatedly).
- Cuộc đời hắn là chuỗi ngày vào tù ra ngục. (His life was a series of being in and out of jail.)