ông

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ong"

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of ông – see 王 (“king; monarch; duke; prince; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 王).

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (North Central Vietnam, phonetic spelling) ôông

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 翁 (“old man”). In Japanese, the same character corresponds to 嫗 (“old woman”). The character for bà (which corresponds to ông in Vietnamese), 婆 (pó, “grandmother”), actually corresponds to 爺 / 爷 (yé, “grandfather”) in Chinese and Japanese.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔəwŋ͡m˧˧]
• (Vinh) IPA^(key): [ʔoŋ˧˥]
• Homophone: Ông

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Noun

ông

1. a grandfather
2. an old man
3. (honorific) a man, old or young

Derived terms

• cá ông
• con ông cháu cha
• đàn ông
• đàn ông xây nhà, đàn bà xây tổ ấm
• ông ăn chả, bà ăn nem
• ông ấy
• ông bà
• ông bà anh chị em
• ông chủ
• ông đồ
• ông già
• ông kẹ
• ông ngoại
• ông nói gà, bà nói vịt
• ông nội
• ông trẻ
• ông vải
• ông xã
• râu ông nọ cắm cằm bà kia

 

Related terms

• bà

Pronoun

ông

1. you, my grandfather

   Antonyms: cháu, con

2. (familiar) you, an old man

   Antonyms: cháu, con

3. (formal) you, a man about 40 or older

   Antonym: tôi

4. (informal) you, a dude

   Antonym: tôi

   Ông nghĩ sao vậy !?

   The heck were you thinking, man!?

5. I/me, your grandfather

   Antonyms: cháu, con

6. (familiar) I/me, an old man

   Antonyms: cháu, con

7. (narratology) he/him, an admirable/lovable old or deceased man

Usage notes

• For the narratological sense, frequently used to refer to renowned figures such as, for example, Benjamin Franklin. Perhaps also neutrally fitting for infamous figures such as Adolf Hitler.

Derived terms

• ổng

Descendants

• → Khmer: អុង (ʼong)

Classifier

ông

1. (literary) Indicates stars

   Synonyms: vì, ngôi

2. used for lime container

   Ông bình vôi — A lime container

See also

• bà