cày

• (South Central Vietnam) cầy
• (North Central Vietnam) cằn

From Proto-Vietic *gal (“to plough; a plough”), from Proto-Chamic (compare Eastern Cham ꨤꨋꩊ (langal), ꨤꨪꨋꩊ (lingal, “plough”)) (Ferlus) or from Proto-Mon-Khmer *lngal ~ *ŋgal (“plough”) (Shorto).

Cognate with Muong cằl, Khmer នង្គ័ល (nĕəngkŏəl), លាង្គល (liəngkɔɔl), អង្គ័ល (ʼɑngkŏəl, “plough”), Mon လ္ၚူ (təŋò), အၚဝ် (əŋò, “yoke; pair”), Malay tenggala (“plough”), as well as Sanskrit लाङ्गल (lāṅgala, “plough-shaped beam or timber”), लाङ्गूल (lāṅgūla, “tail; penis”). Compare linga.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kaj˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kaj˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ka(ː)j˨˩]

(classifier cái) cày • (𦓿, 其)

1. plough

• cày máy

cày • (𦓿, 其)

1. to plough
2. (figurative) to toil
3. (by extension, colloquial) to binge through