trùng

Definition

1. Noun:

   • Insect; bug: A shortened, colloquial form of "côn trùng," referring to small, often multi-legged invertebrates.
   • Germ; microbe; bacterium: A microorganism, especially one that causes disease.
   • Worm; larva: A small, soft-bodied, legless creature, such as a maggot or caterpillar.
   • (Archaic/Superstitious) A malevolent spirit: Believed to cause successive deaths in a family shortly after a bereavement.

2. Adjective:

   • Coinciding; overlapping: Occurring at the same time or place.
   • Identical; matching: Being exactly the same, especially in name or details.

3. Noun (Literary):

   • Successive layers; waves (of something): Multiple, overlapping tiers or surges, as of waves or flames.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Insect):
  • Trong vườn có nhiều trùng. (There are many insects in the garden.)
• Noun (Germ):
  • Phải khử trùng nước trước khi uống. (You must sterilize the water before drinking.)
• Adjective (Coinciding):
  • Lễ kỷ niệm trùng với ngày nghỉ. (The anniversary celebration coincides with a holiday.)
• Adjective (Identical):
  • Chúng tôi trùng họ với nhau. (We share the same family name.)

Advanced Usage

• "Đông trùng hạ thảo": A valuable medicinal fungus (Cordyceps sinensis), literally "winter worm, summer grass."

  • Đông trùng hạ thảo là một vị thuốc quý. (Cordyceps is a precious medicinal herb.)

• "Trùng trùng điệp điệp": An idiom describing something in endless, overlapping layers (e.g., mountains, waves).

  • Núi non trùng trùng điệp điệp. (The mountains rise in range upon range.)

Variants and Related Words

• Côn trùng (n): Insect (the full, formal term).

  • Bướm là một loài côn trùng. (A butterfly is a type of insect.)

• Khử trùng (v): To disinfect, to sterilize.

  • Khử trùng dụng cụ y tế. (To sterilize medical instruments.)

• Trùng lặp (adj/v): To be redundant, to duplicate.

  • Thông tin trong hai báo cáo bị trùng lặp. (The information in the two reports is duplicated.)

Synonyms

• Insect: bug, creepy-crawly.
• Germ: microbe, bacterium, pathogen.
• Coincide: to occur simultaneously, to overlap.
• Identical: the same, matching, duplicate.

Related Idioms

• Trùng tang: (Superstition) The occurrence of multiple deaths in a family in quick succession, attributed to the malevolent "trùng" spirit.

  • Gia đình lo sợ chuyện trùng tang. (The family fears consecutive deaths.)

• Trùng phùng: A happy and rare reunion.

  • Sau bao năm xa cách, cuối cùng họ cũng được trùng phùng. (After many years apart, they finally had a joyful reunion.)