ប្ដី
pdəy
The Khmer word for husband is ប្ដី (pdəy).
ប្ដី is the standard, neutral term used to refer to a husband in most contexts.
Meaning: male partner in marriage (noun)
Which one should you use?
The term ប្ដី (husband) contrasts with the word ប្រពន្ធ (prâpɔn), which means wife.
How do you pronounce it?
pdəy
Did you know?
- While ប្ដី is the neutral term, husbands in Cambodia may be addressed using kinship terms like បង (older brother) to show affection and respect.
- Because of its Sanskrit roots, the word ប្ដី is etymologically related to the English word 'patron' and the Latin 'pater', which means 'father'.
- Depending on the speaker's social status, the way ប្ដី is used in a sentence can change to reflect a higher level of formality or royal language known as 'Rachasap'.
Examples in context
- ប្ដីរបស់គាត់ចិត្តល្អណាស់។pdey roboh koat chet la-or nah.Her husband is very kind.
- តើប្ដីរបស់អ្នកនៅឯណា?tae pdey roboh neak nov ae na?Where is your husband?
- ខ្ញុំកំពុងរកប្ដីម្នាក់។khnhom kompong rork pdey mnak.I am looking for a husband.
Example conversation
Maly is introducing her husband to Narong.
- ម៉ាលី Malyណារ៉ុង នេះគឺជាប្ដីខ្ញុំ។Narong, nih kue chea pdey khnhom.Narong, this is my husband.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongសួស្ដី! រីករាយដែលបានជួប។suostey! riekreay del ban chuob.Hello! Nice to meet you.
- ម៉ាលី Malyគាត់ទើបតែមកពីប្រទេសអាមេរិក។koat teub tae mok pi prates amerik.He just arrived from America.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongអស្ចារ្យណាស់!aschar nas!That is amazing!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “husband” translations and entries ប្ដី, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
