祖辈 (zǔ bèi) — ancestors; forebears | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

ancestorsforebears

祖辈。
Wǒ men de zǔ bèi hěn zǎo jiù bān dào le zhè lǐ.
Our ancestors moved here a long time ago.
祖辈。
Tā jīng cháng tīng zǔ bèi jiǎng guò qù de gù shi.
He often listens to his ancestors tell stories of the past.
祖辈。
Wǒ men yào zūn zhòng zǔ bèi liú xià de chuán tǒng.
We must respect the traditions left by our ancestors.

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

辈bèigeneration

祖 means ancestor and 辈 means generation; together they refer to the generation of ancestors.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

且

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.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 輩; 辈 is its simplified writing.

車非輩

Meaning part形符xíngfú

車車jū

Sound part声符shēngfú

非

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 輩 pairs 車 (vehicle) with 非, which gives the sound; this describes 輩, not the simplified 辈.

Appears in