祭祖 (jì zǔ) — to offer sacrifices to one's ancestors (traditional Chinese ritual practice)

Definition

A traditional ritual: offering food, incense, or other items to honor and remember one's ancestors. Typically performed at family graves, ancestral halls, or during festivals like 清明节 and 春节.

verb
to offer sacrifices to one's ancestors (traditional Chinese ritual practice)

Examples

  • 祭祖。
    Qīng míng jié wǒ men quán jiā yì qǐ qù jì zǔ.
    Our whole family goes to offer sacrifices to our ancestors during Qingming Festival.
  • 。
    Tā měi nián dōu yào huí lǎo jiā jì yí cì zǔ.
    He goes back to his hometown every year to make an ancestral offering once.
  • ，。
    Qù nián qīng míng wǒ men jì le zǔ, hái dǎ sǎo le mù dì.
    Last Qingming we made offerings to our ancestors and also cleaned the graves.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

祭jìsacrifice
祖zǔancestors

'祭' and '祖' together describe offering rites to one's forebears.

Characters in this word

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

祭 shows 又 (hand) offering 肉 (meat) at 示 (altar/ceremony).

Open 祭 →

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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