Where does “chua chát” come from?

chua chát (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese chúa, from Middle Chinese 字 — letter, symbol, character; character.

chua chát (Vietnamese): bitter; acerbic; acrid

Definitions

  1. bitter; acerbic; acrid

Ancestry of “chua chát”, step by step

chua chát traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese chúa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesechúathe retired father of a monarch of feudal...
2Middle Chinese字letter, symbol, character; character

via Vietnamese chát

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesechátacrid
2Proto-Khmuic*c₁at—
Every word from Middle Chinese 字 →Every word from Vietnamese chúa →
chua chát — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer