Definitions

1. Noun:
   • Ancestor: A person from whom one is descended, especially one more remote than a grandparent; a forebear.
   • A respectful term for an elderly male ancestor: Used to refer to a male ancestor with reverence, often in familial or spiritual contexts.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Gia đình tôi thờ cúng ông vãi. (My family worships our ancestors.)
  • Theo truyền thuyết, ông vãi của dân tộc ta đã lập ra ngôi làng này. (According to legend, the ancestor of our people founded this village.)

Advanced Usage

• "Ông vãi tổ tiên": This phrase emphasizes the ancestral lineage, meaning "ancestral forefathers."
  • Chúng ta phải biết ơn công lao của các ông vãi tổ tiên. (We must be grateful for the contributions of our ancestral forefathers.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tổ tiên (noun): Ancestors, forefathers. A more common and general synonym.
• Cụ tổ (noun): Great-grandparent or founding ancestor. Often used for the specific founder of a family line or clan.
• Tiền nhân (noun): Predecessors, forebears. Can refer to ancestors or previous generations in a broader sense.

Synonyms

• Forefather: A member of the past generations of one's family or people.
• Progenitor: A direct ancestor; an originator of a line of descent.

Notes on Usage

• The term "ông vãi" is considered archaic and is primarily used in formal, traditional, or literary contexts, especially when discussing lineage, heritage, or in ceremonial language. In everyday modern Vietnamese, "tổ tiên" is far more common.
• It carries a strong connotation of respect and venerability for the distant past.

noun

1. ancestor