จิต
mind
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 mind、mental state
This word refers to the inner mind—the part of a person that thinks, perceives, and feels. On its own it sounds somewhat formal and is especially common in compounds and in psychological, medical, or Buddhist contexts.
mind、mental state
The inner faculty through which a person thinks, perceives, and experiences feelings.
-
สุขภาพจิต sùkkhaphâapcìt mental health สุขภาพจิต details
-
ความผิดปกติทางจิต khwaam phìt pokatì thaaŋ cìt mental disorder ความผิดปกติทางจิต details
Learning notes
Explanation
At its core, จิต refers to a person's invisible inner activity. It includes thought and perception as well as emotion. Used alone, it can sound formal or abstract. In ordinary conversation, จิตใจ or ใจ is often more natural. จิต is especially common in compounds such as สุขภาพจิต (“mental health”), สภาพจิต (“mental state”), and จิตวิทยา (“psychology”). In Buddhist and meditation contexts, it refers to the mind or consciousness that is observed, calmed, or trained. This is a specialized use of the same central idea rather than a separate meaning learners need to memorize. It is not normally counted. The classifier ดวง may appear in Buddhist or literary expressions such as ดวงจิต.
Usage
It is frequently used as part of compounds when discussing mental health, psychological states, or psychology. It may also appear on its own in temples, meditation settings, and discussions about calming or training the mind.
Caution
Do not automatically translate every use of “mind” or “heart” as จิต. ใจ or จิตใจ is usually more natural for everyday feelings and character. Also be careful with โรคจิต and colloquial uses of จิต aimed at a person; they can imply that someone is perverted, creepy, or mentally disturbed and may be strongly insulting.
Differences from similar words
1 mind synonyms
-
จิตใจ is a natural everyday term for someone's heart, feelings, or character. จิต alone sounds more formal and occurs more often in psychological, medical, and Buddhist language or in compounds.
-
ใจ is the everyday word for the heart, feelings, or resolve. จิต is more abstract and formal, and is often used for the mind or a person's psychological state.