thề bội
Definition
- 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.)