始祖 (shǐ zǔ) — first ancestor; earliest progenitor | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

始祖 means the founding or earliest ancestor of a lineage, nation, or species — used in formal, written, and historical contexts (e.g., 人类始祖, 中华民族的始祖), not for ordinary family relatives.

noun

first ancestorearliest progenitor

Examples

始祖。
Rén lèi gòng tóng de shǐ zǔ tōng cháng bèi rèn wéi shì fēi zhōu de zǎo qī zhì rén.
The common ancestor of humanity is generally believed to be early Homo sapiens in Africa.
始祖。
Zhè běn zú pǔ jì zǎi le wǒ men jiā zú de shǐ zǔ.
This genealogy records our family's earliest ancestor.
始祖。
Xiāng chuán huáng dì shì zhōng huá mín zú de shǐ zǔ.
Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor is the earliest ancestor of the Chinese nation.

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

始 means first or beginning and 祖 means ancestor: the earliest ancestor.

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.

女台始

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

台

台tái始shǐ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

始 is made of 女 (woman) and 台, which gives the sound.

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.

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