Definition

1. Noun:
   • Favor, grace, kindness; debt of gratitude: "Ơn nghĩa" refers to a favor, kindness, or act of grace received from someone, creating a moral debt or sense of gratitude that one should remember and repay. It emphasizes a deep, often lifelong, bond of gratitude and moral obligation.

Usage

• "Ơn nghĩa" is used to express a profound sense of gratitude for significant favors, help, or kindness, often implying a lasting moral debt. It is commonly used in formal, literary contexts or in proverbs to discuss ethical relationships.
  • Con người phải biết ơn nghĩa. (One must know gratitude / remember favors.)
  • Ông ấy mang ơn nghĩa lớn với gia đình tôi. (He has a great debt of gratitude to my family.)

Advanced Usage

• "Mang ơn nghĩa": to owe a debt of gratitude.

  • Tôi mang ơn nghĩa thầy giáo cũ suốt đời. (I owe a lifelong debt of gratitude to my old teacher.)

• "Đền đáp ơn nghĩa": to repay a favor/to return a kindness.

  • Anh ấy luôn tìm cách đền đáp ơn nghĩa. (He always looks for ways to repay the kindness.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ân nghĩa (Noun): This is the standard, more formal synonym for "ơn nghĩa". "Ơn nghĩa" is considered a dialectal variant of "ân nghĩa". Both carry the same core meaning.

  • Tình ân nghĩa sâu nặng. (A deep and weighty bond of gratitude.)

• Ơn (Noun): Favor, grace, mercy. A shorter, more common form.

  • Ơn trời. (Thank heavens / By the grace of heaven.)

• Nghĩa (Noun): Righteousness, duty, moral obligation. Often combined with other words (like "ơn", "ân") to form compounds about moral bonds.

  • Làm việc nghĩa. (To do charitable work.)

Synonyms

• Ân tình: kindness, favor (often with an emotional connotation).
• Ơn huệ: grace, benefaction (slightly more formal/literary).

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây, uống nước nhớ nguồn.": (When eating a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree; when drinking water, remember its source.) This proverb encapsulates the concept of "ơn nghĩa" – remembering and being grateful to the source of benefits.
• "Một chữ cũng là thầy, nửa chữ cũng là thầy.": (Even one word [of teaching] makes you a teacher, half a word makes you a teacher.) Emphasizes the "ơn nghĩa" owed to teachers, no matter how small the lesson.

1. (địa phương) xem ân nghĩa