เข็ม

Thai

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *qemᴬ (needle), from Old Chinese (OC *t.[k]əm). Cognate with Lao ເຂັມ (khem), ᦃᦲᧄ (ẋiim), Tai Dam ꪹꪄꪸꪣ, Shan ၶဵမ် (khǎem), Tai Nüa ᥑᥥᥛᥴ (xém) or ᥔᥥᥛᥴ (sém), Ahom 𑜁𑜢𑜉𑜫 (khim), Zhuang cim or caemz, Nong Zhuang chaem. Compare Vietnamese kim.

Pronunciation

Orthographic/Phonemicเข็ม
e kʰ ˘ m
RomanizationPaiboonkěm
Royal Institutekhem
(standard) IPA(key)/kʰem˩˩˦/(R)

Noun

เข็ม • (kěm)

  1. needle. (classifier: เล่ม)
  2. (medicine) stitch.
  3. similar object (in terms of appearance, usage, etc), as syringe, clock hand, foundation pile, etc.
  4. anything containing such object, as pin, brooch, etc.
  5. (botany) ixora.
  6. (zoology) the fish Dermogenys pusillus van Hasselt of the family Hemiramphidae.

Derived terms

Further reading

  • เข็ม” in Thai Dictionary Project (TDP) (UC Berkeley 1964) (plus additional data from the Royal Institute of Thailand (RI) and NECTEC's LEXITRON project (LEX)). Searchable online at SEAlang.net.