鼻祖 (bí zǔ) — the earliest ancestor; originator (of a tradition, school of thought, or discipline)

Definition

A formal, literary term for the original founder or earliest ancestor of a tradition, school, or discipline — stronger and more honorific than the everyday 创始人 or 奠基人.

noun
the earliest ancestororiginator (of a tradition, school of thought, or discipline)

Examples

  • 鼻祖。
    Kǒng zǐ bèi zūn wéi rú jiā sī xiǎng bí zǔ.
    Confucius is revered as the founder of Confucian thought.
  • 鼻祖。
    Zhè wèi huà jiā shì xiàn dài chōu xiàng yì shù de bí zǔ zhī yī.
    This painter is one of the founders of modern abstract art.
  • 鼻祖。
    Xǔ duō wǔ shù mén pài dōu yǒu zì jǐ de bí zǔ.
    Many martial arts schools have their own originators.

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.

鼻bíearliest
祖zǔancestor

The sense of "鼻" as the first or starting point combines with "祖" for ancestor, giving 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
自自zìnose
Sound part声符shēngfú
畀
畀bì鼻bí
Same sound today

鼻 pairs 自, meaning nose, with 畀, which gives the sound.

Open 鼻 →

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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