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曾祖父 (zēng zǔ fù) — great-grandfather (paternal, same surname)

Definition

Father's father's father — the paternal great-grandfather, three generations up. (Maternal side uses 外曾祖父.)

noun
great-grandfather (paternal, same surname)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 曾祖父。
    Wǒ de zēng zǔ fù yǐ jīng jiǔ shí duō suì le.
    My great-grandfather is already over ninety years old.
  • ，曾祖父。
    Xiǎo shí hou, wǒ jīng cháng tīng zēng zǔ fù jiǎng gù shi.
    When I was little, I often listened to my great-grandfather tell stories.
  • 曾祖父。
    Zhè zhāng zhào piàn shì zēng zǔ fù nián qīng de shí hou pāi de.
    This photo was taken when my great-grandfather was young.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

曾cénggreat-grand
祖父grandfather
祖zǔancestor父fùfather
偏正Modifier + head

'曾' great-grand + '祖父' grandfather; the father of one's grandfather.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

曾 was first drawn as a cooker for steaming food. The 'once' meaning came from borrowing the sound, so the picture does not directly show that meaning.

Open 曾 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě祖zǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

祖 was made by adding 示 to 且, and 且 gives the sound.

Open 祖 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 父 shows a hand holding a stone blade, referring to a man working with a stone axe.

Open 父 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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