khí cầu

Vietnamese

khí cầu

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 氣球, composed of 氣 (“gas”) and 球 (“ball”), from Chinese 氣球 / 气球 (qìqiú, “balloon”).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [xi˧˦ kəw˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kʰɪj˨˩˦ kəw˦˩] ~ [xɪj˨˩˦ kəw˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kʰɪj˦˥ kəw˨˩] ~ [xɪj˦˥ kəw˨˩]

Noun

(classifier cái, quả) khí cầu

1. (meteorology) a weather balloon
2. (aircraft) Short for khinh khí cầu (“hot-air balloon”).