Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
hiền. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
hiền, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
hiền in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
hiền you have here. The definition of the word
hiền will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
hiền, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Vietnamese
Etymology
Sino-Vietnamese word from 賢 (“wise; virtuous”). According to Nguyễn Quốc Hùng's Hán Việt tân từ điển (“New Sino-Vietnamese Dictionary”):
Rất tài giỏi — Có tài năng và đức độ — Tốt đẹp — Không phải là hiền lành theo nghĩa Việt Nam- Excellent - Highly talented and virtuous - Glorious - Not like hiền lành (“mild-mannered”) in Vietnamese usage
The semantic bleaching from "wise/virtuous" to "mild" probably comes from expressions relating to wifehood and motherhood, such as Chinese 賢母/贤母 (“wise mother”) > Vietnamese mẹ hiền (“kind mother”). Compare phrases such as Chinese 賢妻良母/贤妻良母 (hiền thê lương mẫu, “a wise wife and a good mother”) and Japanese 良妻賢母 (ryōsai kenbo, lương thê hiền mẫu, “a good wife and a wise mother”). This term has compounded with other words and morphemes which did not suffer this kind of semantic bleaching, such as lành (from Chinese 良 (lương)) in hiền lành, and Chinese 慈 (từ) in hiền từ.
Pronunciation
Adjective
hiền
- (archaic) wise, virtuous and respectable
- người hiền ― a person of virtue
- (of people, especially women) good-natured
mẹ/vợ/dâu hiền- a good mother/wife/daughter-in-law
- gentle; meek; mild; mild-mannered
- Synonym: lành
- hiền như nai (tơ) ― as gentle as a fawn
- hiền như ma xơ ― as gentle as a nun.
Đừng lo, thằng đó hiền lắm.- Don't worry, he's not the violent type.
- (Southern Vietnam) innocuous; harmless; nutritious
- (Southern Vietnam, euphemistic) ingenuous to a fault
Em hiền quá à! Vậy thì sao có bồ được?- You're too ingenuous! How would you ever get a girlfriend?
Derived terms