thau

thau n (indeclinable)

1. tav, taw (letter)

• thau in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)

From Proto-Austronesian *Cau (“person, human being”) (compare Tagalog tao). The sense of "pupil (of the eye)" is ultimately from the same root; compare Tagalog balintataw (“pupil”). Association between "child" and "pupil" is universal linguistically; compare English pupil, Mandarin 童 (“child”), 瞳 (“pupil”), and Vietnamese người (“person”), ngươi (“pupil”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈθau/

thau

1. person, human being; in particular, a Thao person
2. pupil, apple of the eye

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 鍮 (SV: thâu).

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tʰaw˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tʰaw˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [tʰaw˧˧]

thau (𨭡)

1. brass
2. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) basin; wash basin

• đồng thau