Vietnamese lunar new year, 1885, short for Tet Nguyen Dan "feast of the first day." The North Vietnamese Tet Offensive in the U.S. Vietnam War began Jan. 30, 1968.
"the communist guerrilla force in Vietnam 1954-1976," also Vietcong, 1957, from Vietnamese, in full Viêt Nam Cong San, literally "Vietnamese communist."
derogatory for "Vietnamese," 1969, U.S. military slang, of uncertain origin.
type of Vietnamese soup, probably from French feu "fire" (see focus (n.)) "as in pot-au-feu, a stew of meat and vegetables of which the broth is drunk separately as a soup" [Ayto, "Diner's Dictionary"] which would have been acquired in Vietnamese during the French colonial period.
southern Vietnamese city, capital of former South Vietnam, named for its river, which bears a name of uncertain origin.
also Vietminh, 1945, name of the independence movement in French Indo-China 1941-50, in full Viêt Nam Dôc-Lâp Dông-Minh "Vietnamese Independence League."
country in Southeast Asia, from Vietnamese Viet, the people's name + nam "south." Division into North and South lasted from 1954 to 1976. Vietnam War attested by 1963.
"sound made by a crowing cock," 1570s, imitative; compare French cocorico, German kikeriki, Latin cucurire, Russian kikareku, Vietnamese cuc-cu, Arabic ko-ko, etc., and compare cock (n.1).
1738 (adj.) "pertaining to Mongols;" 1839 (n.) "the language of the Mongols," 1846 "a native of Mongolia;" from Mongol + -ian. As a racial classification for Asiatic peoples (including Chinese, Japanese, Turks, Vietnamese, Lapps, Eskimos, etc.) "belonging to the yellow-skinned straight-haired type of mankind" [OED] in J.F. Blumenbach's system, it is attested in English by 1825 in translations of his works.
