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chưng. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
chưng, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
chưng in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
chưng you have here. The definition of the word
chưng will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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Vietnamese
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 張 (“to set out, to display”, SV: trương). Doublet of trưng and trương.
Verb
chưng
- to show off, to sport
See also
Etymology 2
Sino-Vietnamese word from 蒸 (“steam”).
Verb
chưng
- to distill
Derived terms
Etymology 3
In pre-modern writing of a more colloquial nature and original works, chưng was used as a preposition to indicate place and time. However, this particle/preposition was also a literary device widely used in translation of Chinese texts, as a "stand-in" of sort for the Chinese markers 之 (zhī) and 夫 (fú). See Washizawa (2017) for more information.
Particle
chưng
- (obsolete) in; on; at
祼將于京 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
祼将于京 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]- From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11th – 7th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
- Quán tương vu kinh
- Assist at the libations in capital
late 18th - early 19th century CE, Thi kinh đại toàn tiết yếu diễn nghĩa (詩經大全節要演義 "Explaining the Meanings of the Essentials in the Classic of Poetry"), volume IV, page 2b:淬𲆾助祭烝几𢄂茹周- Rót rượu trợ tế chưng kẻ chợ nhà Chu.
- Assist at the sacrificial libations in the Zhou capital
- late 17th - early 18th c. CE, Thiên Nam Ngữ Lục Ngoại Kỷ (天南語錄外紀 "Peripheral Records in the Language of the Southern Sky"), 63b
碎俸蔑𠇮落典蒸低- Tôi bỗng một mình lạc đến chưng đây.
- I suddenly became lost, alone, and ended up at this place.
- (obsolete) due to; because
- 古珠法雲佛本行語錄 Cổ Châu Pháp Vân phật bổn hạnh ngữ lục ("Record of what has been said about the origin and deeds of the Cloud Dharma Buddha at Cổ Châu"), Vietnamese translation possibly by Viên Thái 圓態, 1752 version, 4b
𡛔庄固重麻䐗實時磊意蒸埃- Gái chẳng có chồng mà chửa, thực thời lỗi ấy chưng ai?
- An unwed girl getting pregnant; verily, because of whose fault?
Usage notes
In the spoken/colloquial form of pre-modern Vietnamese, at least the compound vì chưng (“because of”) used to enjoy some popular usage, although the presence of chưng as a stand-alone word is much less widespread than in the various giải âm (解音) and giải nghĩa (解義) texts. Note the position of Chinese 之 and Vietnamese chưng in relative to 災 / 灾 (zāi, “disaster”) and "boiling water and fire" in the example below.
13th century (original Chinese), Trần Thái Tông, translated by Khoá hư lục 課虛錄, (Please provide the book title or journal name):活遭湯火之災- to live , would be subjected to boiling water and fire.
14th century (giải âm/giải nghĩa), giải nghĩa by Tuệ Tĩnh, Thiền tông khoá hư ngữ lục 禪宗課虛語錄:群𤯩吏及蒸災渃燶共焒催- Even one is to be resurrected, would be greeted with boiling water and scorching fire.
See also