Chinese word

祖母

Pronunciation

Pinyinzǔ mǔ

Meaning

  • noungrandmother

Example

我每个周末都去看望祖母。wǒ měi gè zhōu mò dōu qù kàn wàng zú mǔ

I visit my grandmother every weekend.

Illustration for 祖母 (grandmother)

More examples

节假日我会给祖母打电话聊家常。jié jià rì wǒ huì gěi zú mǔ dǎ diàn huà liáo jiā cháng

On holidays, I call my grandmother and chat about everyday life.

Core concept

The female grandparent seen from the younger generation of a family.

Common phrases

  • 给祖母打电话gěi zú mǔ dǎ diàn huà

    call grandmother

  • 陪祖母散步péi zú mǔ sàn bù

    take a walk with grandmother

  • 和祖母住在一起hé zú mǔ zhù zài yì qǐ

    live with grandmother

Similar words

奶奶nái nǎi: A warm, familiar term for a father's mother in everyday speech.
外婆wài pó: A warm, familiar term for a mother's mother in everyday speech.
姥姥lǎo lao: A northern everyday term for a mother's mother.

Definition in Chinese

对孙辈或上一代的女性长辈的称呼，可泛指祖父母中的女性。duì sūn bèi huò shàng yí dài de nǚ xìng zhǎng bèi de chēng hū kě fàn zhǐ zǔ fù mǔ zhōng de nǚ xìng

Word origin

祖 (zǔ, "ancestor") + 母 (mǔ, "mother") combine in 祖母 (zǔmǔ, "grandmother"), marking a grandmother as the mother in an older family generation.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, this term often sounds more formal than the family title used at home, so it commonly appears when a speaker describes a relative to someone outside the family.

Opposites

Related words

  • 外祖母wài zú mǔmaternal grandmothernoun
  • 曾祖母zēng zú mǔgreat-grandmothernoun

Word lists with this word