Where does “điếu cày” come from?

điếu cày (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese cây, from Proto-Vietic gəl, from Proto-Mon-Khmer (d)kər — tree; plant; tree, plant.

điếu cày (Vietnamese): pipe for smoking thuốc lào

Definitions

  1. pipe for smoking thuốc lào

Ancestry of “điếu cày”, step by step

điếu cày traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese cây

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesecâytree; plant; Short for cây số
2Proto-Vieticgəl—
3Proto-Mon-Khmer(d)kərtree; plant; tree, plant

via Vietnamese điếu

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnameseđiếupipe; hookah; to condole on someone's death
Every word from Proto-Mon-Khmer (d)kər →Every word from Proto-Vietic gəl →Every word from Vietnamese cây →