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祖先

zǔ xiān

HSK 6

Meaning

  • ancestors; forebears
  • (biology) ancestral species; ancient species from which present-day species evolved

Definition

祖先指家族或民族的较早世代,即已经逝去的先辈。

Ancestors refer to the earlier generations of a family or nation, i.e., deceased forebears.

Usage

常用来表示血统上的长辈或文化的源头,用于家族、民族、文化等语境。

Often used to denote lineage elders or cultural origins, in contexts of family, ethnicity, culture, etc.

Examples

  • 1 清明节我们全家去祭拜祖先。 (On Qingming Festival, our whole family goes to worship our ancestors.)
  • 2 他的祖先来自中国南方。 (His ancestors came from southern China.)
  • 3 我们要尊敬祖先,传承他们的美德。 (We should respect our ancestors and inherit their virtues.)
  • 4 这个家族的祖先曾是一位著名的将军。 (The ancestor of this family was a famous general.)
  • 5 通过DNA测试,他找到了自己的祖先起源。 (Through DNA testing, he found his ancestral origins.)
View the full HSK 6 vocabulary list

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