bợ

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓəː˧˨ʔ]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓəː˨˩ʔ]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓəː˨˩˨]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

bợ • (把, 󱬵)

1. (obsolete) to prop, to support
2. (obsolete) to tend to
   • 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “言志 Ngôn chí 10”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):

     店清吸月迎𱔩
     𣈜永𫀅花把核

     Đêm thanh hớp nguyệt nghiêng chén.
     Ngày vắng xem hoa bợ cây.

     On the clear nights, I tilt my cup and sip the moon;
     On the idle days, I gaze at my flowers and tend to my plants.

From Proto-Vietic *bəːʔ (Ferlus, 2007). The n-infixed form of this word yields nợ (“debt; to owe”).

bợ • (備, 󱇹, 󱬵)

1. (obsolete) to temporarily borrow, to pawn, to collateralize
   • 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “寶鏡警戒 Bảo kính cảnh giới 19”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):

     𡗶㐌固庫無盡
     停底兒孫塊備為

     Trời đã có kho vô tận.
     Dành để nhi tôn khỏi bợ vay.

     Heaven already possesses an infinite storehouse;
     So its children shan't need to pawn and borrow.

Survives fossilized in the compound adjective tạm bợ.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

(classifier cây) bợ

1. (botany) Marsilea quadrifolia, an edible plant in the fern division.

   Synonyms: bợ nước, cỏ bợ, cỏ chữ điền, rau bợ