祖业 (zǔ yè) — ancestral property or business; ancestors' meritorious achievements

Definition

祖业 refers to the property, business, or achievements passed down from one's ancestors — typically something the family must protect or carry on. It emphasizes inheritance across generations, not just 'old stuff'.

noun
ancestral property or businessancestors' meritorious achievements

Examples

  • 祖业，。
    Tā jì chéng le jiā lǐ de zǔ yè, què hěn kuài bài guāng le.
    He inherited the family ancestral property, but quickly squandered it all.
  • 祖业。
    Zhè fèn zǔ yè shì zǔ bèi jǐ dài rén xīn kǔ jī lěi xià lái de.
    This ancestral legacy was built up through generations of hard work.
  • 祖业，。
    Tā men wèi le bǎo hù zǔ yè, bù xī dǎ guān si.
    They didn't hesitate to go to court to protect the ancestral property.

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.

祖zǔancestor
业yèproperty/business

祖 means ancestor and 业 means property or business, so the word names inherited ancestral property.

Characters in this word

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 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →

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