曾祖 (zēng zǔ) — paternal great-grandfather (the father of one's grandfather, same surname)

Definition

Strictly the paternal great-grandfather (father of 祖父). The broader term for any great-grandparent is 曾祖父 (m.) / 曾祖母 (f.).

noun
paternal great-grandfather (the father of one's grandfather, same surname)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 曾祖。
    Wǒ de zēng zǔ zài wǒ chū shēng qián jiù qù shì le.
    My great-grandfather passed away before I was born.
  • 曾祖，。
    Wǒ men jiā yǒu yì zhāng zēng zǔ de zhào piàn, yǐ jīng yì bǎi duō nián le.
    Our family has a photo of my great-grandfather, already over a hundred years old.
  • ，曾祖。
    Zài jì zǔ shí, wǒ men yě huì jì niàn zēng zǔ.
    When honoring ancestors, we also commemorate our great-grandfather.

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- (one generation further back)
祖zǔancestor

曾 adds the sense of one generation further back to 祖, the ancestor.

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 →

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