កញ្ឆា
kɑɑkɑñchaa
The English word "weed" is translated into Khmer as កញ្ឆា (kɑɑkɑñchaa).
Meaning: unwanted plant (noun)
Which one should you use?
While កញ្ឆា is often used for cannabis, the word ស្មៅ is more appropriate for general grass or common garden weeds.
How do you pronounce it?
kɑɑkɑñchaa
Did you know?
- Because កញ្ឆា is so strongly linked to 'cannabis', using it in a conversation about gardening could be mistaken for an accidental admission of drug use.
- The term កញ្ឆា is derived from the Sanskrit word 'gañjā', highlighting the deep influence of Indian languages on Khmer vocabulary.
- In traditional Khmer medicine, plants categorized under កញ្ឆា were historically used for their sedative properties before modern legal restrictions.
Example conversation
Sok and Chinda are working in the backyard garden.
- សុខ Sokចិន្តា តើអ្នកឃើញកញ្ឆានៅទីនេះទេ?Chinda, tae neak kheunh kanhcha nov ti nih te?Chinda, do you see the weeds here?
- ចិន្តា Chindaចាស សុខ ខ្ញុំឃើញវាច្រើនណាស់។chas Sok, khnhom kheunh vea chreun nah.Yes Sok, I see a lot of them.
- សុខ Sokជួយខ្ញុំដកកញ្ឆាទាំងអស់នេះចេញផង។chuoy khnhom dok kanhcha teang nis chenh phong.Please help me pull all these weeds out.
- ចិន្តា Chindaបាទ ខ្ញុំនឹងជួយអ្នកឥឡូវនេះ។bat, khnhom neng chuoy neak eylov nih.Yes, I will help you right now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry កញ្ឆា, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries កញ្ឆា, CC BY-SA 4.0.
