光宗耀祖

Mandarin · pinyin guāng zōng yào zǔ

Meanings

  1. to bring honor to one's ancestors
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Characters in this entry

光
guāng · light, brilliant, shine; only
宗
zōng · lineage, ancestry; ancestor, clan
耀
yào · shine, sparkle, dazzle; glory
祖
zǔ · ancestor, forefather; grandfather
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–3 · guang1 zong1 yao4 zu3

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwong1 zung1 jiu6 zou2

Cantonese word readings for 光宗耀祖. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

gwong1 zung1 jiu6 zou2

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) to bring honour to one's ancestors and clan

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack