thiên thần

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 天神 (“heavenly spirit”).

This term has been attested since the early Christian writings in Vietnamese of European missionaries (both Girolamo Maiorica and Alexandre de Rhodes) and is also the dominant form for compounds like thiên thần sa ngã (“fallen angels”).

Pronunciation

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [tʰiən˧˧ tʰən˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [tʰiəŋ˧˧ tʰəŋ˦˩]
  • (Saigon) IPA(key): [tʰiəŋ˧˧ tʰəŋ˨˩]

Noun

thiên thần

  1. (religion, chiefly Christianity) angel
    Synonyms: sứ thần, thiên sứ

Usage notes

  • Certain prescriptivists might object to the usage of this term for "angel", since in monotheistic Abrahamic religions, "angels" are not thần (“deity”).
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