vợ cả

Bà vợ cả đang ngồi đọc sách trong phòng khách.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Principal wife / First wife: In historical or traditional contexts, especially those involving polygamy, "vợ cả" refers to the first wife, who holds the highest rank and authority among a man's wives. She is often the legally recognized primary spouse.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trong chế độ đa thê xưa, vợ cả có địa vị cao nhất trong gia đình. (In the old polygamous system, the principal wife held the highest status in the household.)
  • Cụ ấy có ba bà vợ, nhưng chỉ có vợ cả là được ghi trong gia phả. (He had three wives, but only the first wife was recorded in the family annals.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in historical, anthropological, or literary discussions about traditional Vietnamese family structures. Its use in modern everyday conversation is rare and would specifically refer to such contexts.

Variants and Related Words

• Vợ lẽ (n): concubine; a secondary wife in a polygamous marriage.

  • Vợ cả và vợ lẽ có quyền lợi khác nhau. (The principal wife and the concubine had different rights.)

• Vợ hai (n): second wife; another term for a secondary spouse.

  • Sau khi vợ cả mất, ông mới cưới vợ hai. (After the first wife passed away, he married a second wife.)

Synonyms

• First wife: The wife married first in a polygamous union.
• Principal wife: The wife with primary status and authority.

Related Concepts

• Chính thất: A formal, literary term for the principal wife.
• Đa thê: Polygamy; the practice of having more than one wife simultaneously, which is the social system where the concept of "vợ cả" is relevant.