Vietnamese

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Etymology

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bốn (four) +‎ bể (sea; ocean), calque of Chinese 四海 (tứ hải, four seas).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bốn bể

  1. the seas around China
  2. (literary, possibly obsolete) the four oceans, the Pacific, the Indian, the Atlantic and the Arctic
  3. (literary) the whole world

Synonyms

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See also

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