Where does “ngủ chay” come from?

ngủ chay (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese ngủ, from Chinese 伍, from Chinese 亻, from Chinese 工.

ngủ chay (Vietnamese): to purely sleep, without anything else happening (i.e. sex) on the bed

Definitions

  1. to purely sleep, without anything else happening (i.e. sex) on the bed

Ancestry of “ngủ chay”, step by step

ngủ chay traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese ngủ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesengủto sleep
2Chinese伍—
3Chinese亻—
4Chinese工—

via Vietnamese chạy

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesechạyto run
2Proto-Vieticciːʔhead louse
3Proto-Mon-Khmerciiʔlouse
Every word from Chinese 工 →Every word from Chinese 亻 →Every word from Chinese 伍 →
ngủ chay — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer