Definition

Noun: 1. A fishing boat: A small boat, typically used by fishermen for casting nets (chài lưới) to catch fish. This is the primary meaning. 2. A fisherman/fisherfolk (archaic or poetic): A person, or people collectively, who make their living by fishing with nets. This usage is less common in modern language and often appears in literary or traditional contexts.

Usage Examples

• As a fishing boat:
  • Ngư dân ra khơi trên chiếc thuyền chài của mình. (The fisherman went out to sea on his fishing boat.)
  • Bến sông lúc nào cũng đậu san sát những thuyền chài. (The river dock is always densely packed with fishing boats.)
• As a fisherman (archaic/poetic):
  • Cuộc sống của những người thuyền chài vất vả nhưng bình yên. (The life of the fisherfolk is hard but peaceful.)
  • "Thuyền chài theo sóng ra khơi..." (A line from a poem/song: "The fishermen follow the waves out to sea...")

Advanced Usage

• The word is a compound noun formed from "thuyền" (boat) and "chài" (a type of fishing net). It specifically evokes the image of traditional, small-scale net fishing.
• In modern Vietnamese, when referring to the person, "ngư dân" (fisherman) or "dân chài" (fishing folk) is more standard. Using "thuyền chài" to mean a person is now mostly poetic or idiomatic.

Variants and Related Words

• Chài (noun): A casting net, a dragnet.
• Đánh chài (verb phrase): To fish using a casting net.
• Dân chài (noun): Fishing community, fisherfolk.
• Thuyền đánh cá (noun): Fishing boat (a more general, modern term).
• Ngư dân (noun): Fisherman, fisher (the standard modern term for the person).

Synonyms

• Thuyền đánh cá: Fishing boat.
• Thuyền lưới: Net boat.
• Xuồng câu (if used for fishing with a line): Fishing skiff. (Note: This is not a perfect synonym as it implies a different fishing method.)

Related Phrases/Idioms

• Cuộc sống thuyền chài: The fishing life.
  • Cuộc sống thuyền chài gắn liền với biển cả. (The fishing life is intimately connected with the sea.)
• Làng thuyền chài: A fishing village.
  • Họ sinh ra và lớn lên ở một làng thuyền chài nhỏ. (They were born and raised in a small fishing village.)

noun

1. fishing boat