buôn

Buôn is a Vietnamese verb meaning to engage in trade, especially to buy and sell goods for profit, typically at markets or through street commerce. It often appears in phrases such as buôn bán, meaning to trade or conduct business, and can refer to wholesale or retail activities. The term is widely used in everyday speech across Vietnam.

In everyday use, buôn denotes the activity of small traders, market vendors, farmers selling produce, or itinerant sellers. It is commonly associated with informal or small-scale commerce, but can also apply to formal retail or wholesale enterprises when used in compounds like buôn bán.

Etymologically, buôn is a native Vietnamese term that appears across dialects. An idiomatic expression is buôn thúng bán mẹt, which depicts informal, portable street trading and selling a varied assortment of wares from baskets. The phrase reflects traditional market life and the social role of itinerant and small-scale traders.

Toponymically, in the Central Highlands and some southern regions, buôn also means village or settlement in historical and administrative names, such as Buôn Ma Thuột, Buôn Đôn, and Buôn Hồ. In these toponyms, buôn signals a locality rather than the act of trading, reflecting linguistic influences from indigenous languages in the region.

See also

Buôn bán

Chợ

Thương mại

Buôn lậu