kinh tế

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 經濟, from Japanese 経済 (keizai), re-purposed from Middle Chinese 經濟 (keng tsejH), from the phrase 經世濟民／经世济民 (kinh thế tế dân, “to fix the world and help the common folks”), which is usually translated as trị đời giúp dân. Kinh tế was also used in some archaic texts as short for 經邦濟世／经邦济世 (kinh bang tế thế, “to fix the state and help the world”). The meaning of this Chinese compound vaguely resembles that of Ancient Greek οἰκονομῐ́ᾱ (oikonomíā, “household management”), from which the modern concept of "economy" derives, which is why Japanese scholars chose it as a translation.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kïŋ˧˧ te˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kɨn˧˧ tej˨˩˦]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [kɨn˧˧ tej˦˥]

Noun

(classifier nền) kinh tế

1. economy

Adjective

kinh tế

1. economic

Derived terms

• đặc khu kinh tế (“special economic zone”)
• kinh tế xã hội (“socioeconomics”)
• kinh tế học (經濟學, “economics”)