thứ

See also: thu, thụ, and thư

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰɨ˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰɨ˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [tʰɨ˦˥]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 次.

Note that in spite of superficial similarity, this word is unrelated to Khmer ទី (tii), Thai ที่ (tîi), Japanese 第 (dai), all from Chinese 第 (MC dejH) (SV: đệ).

Noun

thứ

1. order, rank, sort, type, kind, category
2. thing

Adjective

thứ

1. (formal) second

   con trai thứ ― the second son

Classifier

thứ

1. Indicates things of the same category, such as languages (tiếng)

Prefix

thứ

1. ordinal number marker

   thứ tám ― eighth

Usage notes

• Vietnamese originally did not mark numerals in ordinal usages. Nowadays, this is usually only seen in titles and forms of address, such as chú ba (“the third/second uncle”), thằng sáu (“the sixth/fifth boy”), etc.

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 恕.

Verb

thứ

1. (chiefly in compounds, literary) to pardon, to forgive

Derived terms

• lượng thứ
• tha thứ