cỏ
See also: Appendix:Variations of "co"
Middle Vietnamese
Etymology
From Proto-Vietic *kɔh (“grass”).
Pronunciation
- (Đông Kinh) [kɔC1]
Noun
- grass
- sang cỏ (cây cỏ) ― flora
Derived terms
- muâng cỏ
- ma cỏ
References
- Alexandre de Rhodes (1651) “cỏ”, in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (in Middle Vietnamese, Latin, and Portuguese), Rome: Propaganda Fide
Vietnamese
Etymology
From Proto-Vietic *kɔh (“grass”). Cognate with Thavung ก็อฮ.
Attested as cỏ in the Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum (1651).
The sense "marijuana" is probably a calque of English weed.
Pronunciation
Noun
(classifier lá, cây, ngọn) cỏ • (𦹵, 𦹯, 古, 苦)
- grass
- đi cắt cỏ cho trâu ăn ― to cut grass to feed buffaloes.
- weed (any plant unwanted at the place where and at the time when it is growing)
- nhổ cỏ ― to pull weeds
- (slang) weed; marijuana
Usage notes
- Usage of the classifier ngọn is literary.
Adjective
- (literary) negligible