Vietnamese

Adjective

trái ‎(賴, 債, 债)

1. (often with bên) left (side, direction)

   bên trái

   on the left

   Rẽ (tay) trái. Quẹo (tay) trái.

   Turn left.

2. reverse (side)

   mặt trái của tấm vải

   the reverse of a piece of cloth

3. (rare) morally wrong, unreasonable, illogical

   phân rõ phải trái, đúng sai

   to distinguish between right and wrong

Synonyms

• (left): tả (only in certain contexts); chiêu
• (reverse): sau
• (morally wrong, unreasonable): trái lẽ, trái lý, trái lí

Antonyms

• (left): phải; đăm
• (reverse): phải, trước, chính

Derived terms

• trái lại
• trái ngược
• trái tim

Adverb

trái ‎(賴)

1. inside out

   Lộn trái quần áo để phơi.

   Turn the clothes inside out and hang them out to dry.

Synonyms

• ngược

Preposition

trái ‎(賴)

1. contrary to, despite

   nắng trái tiết

   unseasonably sunny (literally, "sunny despite the climate")

   trái nghĩa

   antonymous

Derived terms

Related terms

• đối lập

Etymology 2

From Proto-Mon-Khmer *pləjʔ ‎(“fruit”), whence also Khmer ផ្លែ ‎(phlae) ("fruit").

Noun

(classifier cái) trái ‎(𢁑, 𣛤, 𢁑, 𣡙, 𣡚, 𧀞)

1. (chiefly Southern Vietnam) fruit; piece of fruit

   ăn trái (cây)

   to eat fruit

2. (informal) land mine

   gài trái

   to place land mines

Synonyms

• (fruit): trái cây, quả
• (land mine): mìn

Classifier

trái ‎(𢁑, 𣛤, 𢁑, 𣡙, 𣡚, 𧀞)

1. (chiefly Southern Vietnam) Refers to anything round, such as a piece of fruit.

   trái chôm chôm

   a rambutan

   trái lựu đạn

   a grenade

   trái núi

   a mountain

   trái banh

   a football

   trái cây

   a piece of fruit

Synonyms

• (anything round): quả

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Noun

trái ‎(瘵)

1. smallpox

   lên trái

   to come down with smallpox

Synonyms

• (smallpox): đậu mùa

Etymology 4

Romanization

trái

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 債
2. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 責

References

• "trái" in Hồ Ngọc Đức, Free Vietnamese Dictionary Project (details)
• Lê Sơn Thanh, "Nom-Viet.dat", WinVNKey (details)
• Nôm Lookup Tool, Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation