Where does “bể Đông” come from?
bể Đông (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese bé, from French beige, from Middle French beige, from Old French bege, from Vulgar Latin bysseus, from Latin byssus, from Ancient Greek βύσσος, from Hebrew בּוּץ — byssus.
bể Đông (Vietnamese): South China Sea
Definitions
- South China Sea
Ancestry of “bể Đông”, step by step
bể Đông traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Vietnamese bé
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | bé | small; little; tiny; little; very young; Short... |
| 2 | French | beige | beige |
| 3 | Middle French | beige | — |
| 4 | Old French | bege | color of undyed wool or cotton |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | bysseus | cottony grey; cotton-coloured |
| 6 | Latin | byssus | byssus or sea silk |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | βύσσος | flax; linen; Levant cotton |
| 8 | Hebrew | בּוּץ | byssus |