ព្រះច័ន្ទ
prĕəh can
The English word moon is translated into Khmer as ព្រះច័ន្ទ (prĕəh can). Wiktionary also lists លោកខែ and ចន្ទ (can).
Meaning: the natural satellite of planet Earth (noun)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ព្រះច័ន្ទ | prĕəh can |
| លោកខែ | |
| ចន្ទ | can |
| ចន្ទ្រ | can |
| ខែ | khae |
| ចន្ទា | cɑɑcɑntiə |
| ចន្ទិមា | cɑɑntimiə |
| ចន្ទ្រា | cɑɑcɑntriə |
The word refers to the natural satellite of planet Earth.
What does it mean word for word?
In the form ព្រះច័ន្ទ, the prefix ព្រះ adds a sense of sacredness or high status to the noun.
Which one should you use?
The form ព្រះច័ន្ទ is used for the celestial body itself, whereas ខែ is more frequently used in daily speech to refer to the moon or the lunar month. លោកខែ is a personified way to refer to the moon, often used in storytelling or children's contexts.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
ព្រះច័ន្ទ is the standard and most respectful way to refer to the moon in a formal or descriptive context. ខែ is a common, shorter way to say moon, but it is also the word for 'month'. លោកខែ is a personified way to refer to the moon.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
prĕəh can
Did you know?
- The word ចន្ទ is a direct relative of the Sanskrit word candra, which is also the root for the name 'Chandrasekhar' in India.
- The personified form លោកខែ uses the title លោក, which is typically a polite way to address a man or a 'gentleman'.
- The various spellings like ចន្ទ្រ and ចន្ទា exist because Khmer absorbed different orthographic traditions from Sanskrit and Pali.
Examples in context
- យប់នេះមានព្រះច័ន្ទរះពេញណា ។There is a full moon tonight.This sentence is useful for describing the presence of a full moon using ព្រះច័ន្ទ.Tatoeba #4423329 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #1841570 by CC
- ព្រះច័ន្ទមានពន្លឺភ្លឺខ្លាំងនៅយប់នេះ។preah chan mean ponleu phleu khlang nov yub nis.The moon is very bright tonight.
- ខ្ញុំចូលចិត្តមើលព្រះច័ន្ទពេលយប់។khnom chol chet merl preah chan pel yub.I like looking at the moon at night.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Vibol and Sreney are looking at the night sky together.
- វិបុល Vibolស្រីនី មើលព្រះច័ន្ទនោះចុះ!Sreney, merl preah chan noh choh!Sreney, look at that moon!
- ស្រីនី Sreynyវាស្អាតណាស់ វិបុល។vea s-at nas, Vibol.It is very beautiful, Vibol.
- វិបុល Vibolតើអ្នកដឹងទេថាព្រះច័ន្ទនៅឆ្ងាយប៉ុនណា?tae neak deng te tha preah chan nov chhngay pon na?Do you know how far the moon is?
- ស្រីនី Sreynyខ្ញុំមិនដឹងទេ ប៉ុន្តែវាពិតជាអស្ចារ្យមែន។khnhom min deng te, pon-tae vea pit chea as-char men.I don't know, but it really is amazing.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “moon” translations and entries ព្រះច័ន្ទ, លោកខែ, ចន្ទ, ចន្ទ្រ, ខែ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ចន្ទ, ចន្ទ្រ, ព្រះច័ន្ទ, លោកខែ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
