Where does “xông đất” come from?
xông đất (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese xông, from French sonde, from Middle French sonde, from Old French sonde, from Old English sund, from Old Norse sund, from Proto-Germanic sundą, from Proto-Germanic swimmaną — to bend, turn, swing; to be unsteady, move, swim.
xông đất (Vietnamese): to be the first person/people to visit someone's home during the Lunar New Year (Tết)
Definitions
- to be the first person/people to visit someone's home during the Lunar New Year (Tết)
Ancestry of “xông đất”, step by step
xông đất traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Vietnamese xông
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | xông | to charge forward; to soak in steam or smoke |
| 2 | French | sonde | probe; sound; Any of various devices for testing... |
| 3 | Middle French | sonde | sounding line |
| 4 | Old French | sonde | sounding line |
| 5 | Old English | sund | swimming; sea, water |
| 6 | Old Norse | sund | swimming; strait, sound; swimming, sound |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | sundą | swimming; sound, strait |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | swimmaną | to be unsteady; to swim; float |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | swem(bʰ)- | to bend, turn, swing; to be unsteady, move, swim |