Word · CEFR A2 · Frequency #4793
ancestor
祖先；先人
A person from whom you are descended, especially one who lived long ago.
- 1.
One from whom a person is descended, whether on the father's or mother's side, at any distance of time; a progenitor; a forefather; a forebear.
一个人的祖先,无论父系或母系,任何时间距离；祖先；先辈；先祖。
- 2.
someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)
祖先,通常指比祖父母更早的先人
- 3.
An earlier type; a progenitor.
早期类型；前身。
- 4.
One from whom an estate has descended;—the correlative of heir.
遗产所从出之人；与继承人相对。
- 5.
One who had the same role or function in former times.
在以前时代担任相同角色或功能的人。
- 6.
A word or phrase which serves as the origin of a term in another language.
作为另一种语言中某个术语来源的词或短语。
前身；始祖；先驱；前辈；被继承人；词源；原始词；一个人的祖先,无论父系或母系,任何时间距离；祖先；先辈；先祖。
In use
My ancestor built this house in the 18th century.
We can trace our ancestors back to Ireland.
The ancient temple was built by their ancestors.
ancestor of [noun phrase]
表示某物是另一物的直系祖先。
The chimpanzee is an ancestor of humans.
黑猩猩是人类的祖先。
ancestor to [noun phrase]
与 of 类似，强调承继关系。
This species is considered an ancestor to modern birds.
这个物种被认为是现代鸟类的祖先。
[possessive] ancestor(s)
所有格形式表示某人的祖先。
They visited the village of their ancestors.
Connections
Collocations
- common ancestor
- 共同祖先
- Humans and apes share a common ancestor.人类和猿类有共同的祖先。
- distant ancestor
- 远祖
- My distant ancestor came from Ireland.我的远祖来自爱尔兰。
- ancestor worship
- 祖先崇拜
- Ancestor worship is practiced in many cultures.许多文化中都实行祖先崇拜。
- ancestor figure
- 祖先形象
- The statue is an ancestor figure from the tribe.这座雕像是部落的祖先形象。
- ancestor spirit
- 祖先灵魂
- They believe ancestor spirits protect the village.他们相信祖先灵魂保护着村庄。
- ancestor of
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想：ancestor 听起来像 '俺祖先'，意思正是祖先。
Context & Register
通常用于中性语境，常见于历史或家谱讨论。
Pronunciation & Spelling
These words share the spelling ending 'tor' and an unstressed /-tər/ sound, but their stressed vowels and following consonants differ, so they do not rhyme with 'ancestor'. For example, 'ancestor' has stressed /æn-/, while 'doctor' has /dɒk-/, 'actor' has /æk-/, etc.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 2，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.