Definition

1. Noun:
   • A traditional Vietnamese bodice or undergarment: A piece of clothing, typically triangular or diamond-shaped, worn by women in traditional attire to cover the chest and abdomen. It is tied at the neck and back.
   • The plastron: The hard, ventral (belly-side) part of the shell of a turtle, tortoise, or crab.
   • The dewlap: The loose fold of skin hanging from the neck of cattle, such as bulls or oxen.

Usage Examples

• Noun (clothing):
  • Cô ấy mặc áo dài với chiếc yếm màu đỏ bên trong. (She wears an áo dài with a red bodice underneath.)
  • Yếm là một phần trang phục truyền thống của phụ nữ Việt Nam ngày xưa. (The yếm was part of the traditional costume of Vietnamese women in the past.)
• Noun (zoology):
  • Con rùa bị lật ngửa, lộ ra cái yếm màu vàng của nó. (The turtle was flipped over, revealing its yellow plastron.)
  • Con bò đực già có cái yếm rất to và nặng. (The old bull has a very large and heavy dewlap.)

Advanced Usage

• "yếm đào": Literally "peach-blossom bodice"; a poetic or literary term for the traditional red bodice, often associated with youthful beauty and femininity in classical poetry and folk songs.
  • Trong thơ ca, hình ảnh cô gái với yếm đào rất phổ biến. (In poetry, the image of a girl in a peach-blossom bodice is very common.)

Variants and Related Words

• Yếm dãi (n): An older or more specific term for a child's bib. (Note: "yếm" alone can sometimes be used to mean "bib" in a shortened form).
  • Đứa bé đeo yếm dãi để khỏi làm bẩn quần áo. (The baby wears a bib to avoid soiling its clothes.)

Synonyms

• Bodice: A close-fitting garment for the upper body.
• Plastron: The ventral part of a shell (zoology).
• Dewlap: A fold of loose skin hanging from the neck (zoology).

Related Idioms

• Lật yếm: Literally "to flip the plastron"; to thoroughly expose or reveal secrets, often in an argument or investigation. This idiom uses the zoological meaning.
  • Cuộc tranh cãi đã lật yếm mọi vấn đề. (The argument flipped the plastron on all the issues, exposing everything.)

noun

1. brassiere
   • yếm đào