Definition

1. Verb:
   • To swear an oath; to vow: The primary meaning of "thề bội" is to make a solemn promise or pledge, often invoking a divine witness or sacred object to guarantee one's sincerity. It is an archaic term.
   • To swear falsely; to perjure: In a negative sense, "thề bội" can imply the act of breaking an oath or swearing to something that is untrue.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Họ thề bội trước bàn thờ tổ tiên. (They swore an oath before the ancestral altar.)
  • Không nên thề bội nếu không định giữ lời. (One should not swear an oath if one does not intend to keep it.)
  • Kẻ ấy đã thề bội, nói dối trước tòa. (That person committed perjury, lying before the court.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "thề bội" is considered literary and old-fashioned. In modern Vietnamese, the simpler verb "thề" (to swear/vow) is almost always used instead for both the act of swearing and the act of breaking a vow.

Variants and Related Words

• Thề (v): to swear, to vow. The modern, common equivalent.
  • Anh ấy thề sẽ trung thành. (He swore to be loyal.)
• Thề nguyền (v): to pledge solemnly (often in romantic or deeply binding contexts).
  • Họ thề nguyền sống chết có nhau. (They pledged to be together in life and death.)
• Bội thề (v): to break a vow, to betray an oath. This is the more common construction for the concept of oath-breaking.
  • Bội thề là một tội lỗi. (To break an oath is a sin.)

Synonyms

• Swear: to make a solemn promise.
• Vow: to promise solemnly.
• Take an oath: to formally swear to tell the truth or fulfill a promise.
• Perjure oneself: to willfully tell a lie under oath.

Related Idioms

• Thề sống thề chết: to swear vehemently, "to swear to live and die" (by something).
  • Hắn thề sống thề chết rằng mình vô tội. (He swore up and down that he was innocent.)
• Thề non hẹn biển: to make extravagant, often empty promises ("to swear by the mountains and promise the sea").
  • Đừng tin vào những lời thề non hẹn biển. (Don't believe in extravagant, empty promises.)