đô đốc

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 都督.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɗo˧˧ ʔɗəwk͡p̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɗow˧˧ ʔɗəwk͡p̚˦˧˥]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɗow˧˧ ʔɗəwk͡p̚˦˥]

Noun

đô đốc

1. (military, of a navy) an admiral
2. (archaic) an official military title in ancient China and Vietnam

Usage notes

Vietnamese uses three specific terms for the three naval general officer ranks, namely đô đốc (“admiral”), phó đô đốc (“vice admiral”) and chuẩn đô đốc (“rear admiral”). In contrast, Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages use generic terms applicable in all branches, for example Japanese 大将 (taishō, “general; admiral; air chief marshal”), 中将 (chūjō, “lieutenant general; vice admiral; air mashal”) and 少将 (shōshō, “major general; vice admiral; air vice-marshal”); and lower ranks are generically termed, for example đại tá (“colonel; senior colonel; captain; commodore”).

See also

• thượng tướng