Definition

1. Verb:
   • To keep a vegetarian diet / To be vegetarian: The primary meaning of "ăn chay" is to follow a diet that excludes meat, fish, and sometimes other animal products, often for religious, ethical, or health reasons.
   • To fast / To abstain (in a religious context): In specific religious practices, particularly in Buddhism, "ăn chay" can imply a period of dietary abstinence or eating simple, plain food as a spiritual discipline.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Bà tôi ăn chay vào ngày mùng một và rằm hàng tháng. (My grandmother keeps a vegetarian diet on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month.)
  • Vì lý do sức khỏe, anh ấy quyết định ăn chay. (For health reasons, he decided to be vegetarian.)
  • Nhà sư ăn chay trường để tu hành. (The monk maintains a permanent vegetarian diet for spiritual practice.)

Advanced Usage

• "ăn chay trường": To be a strict, long-term or permanent vegetarian.

  • Cô ấy theo đạo Phật và đã ăn chay trường được năm năm. (She follows Buddhism and has been a strict vegetarian for five years.)

• "ăn chay kỳ": To be vegetarian on specific, predetermined days (e.g., certain days of the lunar month).

  • Nhiều người ăn chay kỳ, chỉ ăn chay vài ngày trong tháng. (Many people are periodic vegetarians, only eating vegetarian food on a few days each month.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chay (adj): Vegetarian (describing food or diet).

  • tiệm cơm chay (a vegetarian restaurant)
  • món chay (a vegetarian dish)

• Đồ chay (n): Vegetarian food.

  • Cửa hàng này bán đồ chay rất ngon. (This shop sells very delicious vegetarian food.)

Synonyms

• To follow a vegetarian diet: The most direct equivalent.
• To abstain from meat: Highlights the exclusion of meat.
• To fast: Used primarily in the context of religious abstinence, not always a perfect synonym.

Related Idioms and Proverbs

• Ăn mặn nói ngay còn hơn ăn chay nói dối.
  • Literal meaning: It is better to eat meat and speak truthfully than to eat vegetarian and speak lies.
  • Figurative meaning: Honest action is more valuable than hypocritical piety. Sincerity and truthfulness are more important than outward shows of virtue or religious observance.

verb

1. To keep a vegetarian diet
   • họ ăn chay quanh năm suốt tháng, họ ăn chay trường
     they keep a vegetarian diet all year round