đoan trang

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 端莊.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɗwaːn˧˧ t͡ɕaːŋ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɗwaːŋ˧˧ ʈaːŋ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɗwaːŋ˧˧ ʈaːŋ˧˧]

Adjective

đoan trang

1. (formal or literary, only women) dignified and decorous

   Synonym: thuỳ mị

   • 1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Đoạn trường tân thanh (Truyện Kiều)‎^[1], published 1866, lines 21–22:

     花(Hoa)唭(cười)玉(ngọc)説(thốt)端(đoan)莊(trang)
     𩄲(Mây)輸(thua)渃(nước)𩯀(tóc)雪(tuyết)讓(nhường)牟(màu)䏧(da)

     Jades tingled in her voice; flowers bloomed from her smile.
     Her speech: educated, chaste and refined.
     Clouds yielded to her hair’s lustrous shine and flow.
     Snow ceded to the silky whiteness of her skin’s glow.