tình báo

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 情報, composed of 情 (“movements; activities; operation”) and 報 (“reportage”), from Japanese 情報 (jōhō, “intelligence; information”), which is clipped from 敵情報知 (tekijō hōchi, “reconnaissance”, literally “intel on the enemy's movements”). The Japanese term has been bleached toward a very broad meaning, "knowledge" or "information" in general.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

tình báo

1. (espionage) intelligence; intel

   Cơ quan Tình báo Trung ương

   the Central Intelligence Agency