TuDien.NgonNguViet.comVietnamese ⇄ English dictionary

thơm

Level ≈B2 (approx.) adjectivenounverb Top 3,000 most common
Hanoi [tʰəːm˧˧]Huế [tʰəːm˧˧]Saigon [tʰəːm˧˧] browser voice
Syllables · tones
thơmlevelngang

Each syllable carries one of six tones; the mark on the vowel tells you which. How the six tones sound →

thơm means fragrant; sweet-smelling.

Meanings of thơm in English

Adjective

  1. fragrant, sweet-smelling
  2. aromatic
    • hiđrôcacbon thơmaromatic hydrocarbon

Noun

  1. Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam pineapple ≈ gaidứa
  2. Southern Vietnam the “Cayenne” cultivar of the pineapple

Verb

  1. to take a sniff of (a person’s smell) as a mark of affection
  2. colloquial to kiss (platonically) ≈ hônhunmi

Words with thơm

dầu thơmhương thơmrau thơmthơm lừngthơm ngátthơm phứcthơm tho

Example sentences with thơm

  • Tôi nghe mùi hoa thơm trong vườn. I breathed the smell of the flowers in the garden.
  • Đói cho sạch, rách cho thơm. A clean fast is better than a dirty breakfast.
  • Nó có mùi thơm. It smells good.
  • Cô ấy thơm vào má tôi và nói chúc ngủ ngon. She kissed me on the cheek and said goodnight.

Bilingual example sentences from Tatoeba (tatoeba.org, CC BY 2.0 FR).

Historical script (chữ Nôm / Hán)

Before the Latin alphabet (chữ Quốc ngữ) became standard, thơm could be written as 𦹳, 𬳦, 貪. Today Vietnamese is written only in the Latin alphabet.

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *tʰəːm (“fragrant”), perhaps from Proto-Mon-Khmer *dhum ~ *dhuum (“fragrant; to scent”) (Shorto 2006, #1432); compare Khmer ធុំ (thum, “fragrant”) and Proto-Katuic *pahuum ~ *tahuum (whence Pacoh thum (“fragrant”)).

Frequently asked questions

What does thơm mean in English?

thơm (adjective) means "fragrant; sweet-smelling".

How do you pronounce thơm?

IPA: Hanoi [tʰəːm˧˧]; Saigon [tʰəːm˧˧]. Tones: thơm — level tone (ngang).

Meanings, pronunciation and etymology from English Wiktionary (wiktionary.org, via kaikki.org; CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed and edited; example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). IPA shown for three accents: Hanoi (Northern), Huế (Central) and Saigon (Southern). The Listen button uses your browser's Vietnamese voice, for reference only. Levels are approximate, estimated from word frequency. Spotted a mistake? Let NgonNgu know.