Chinese symbol for “forebears”
先民
xiān mín
forebears
The closest CC-CEDICT match for forebears is 先民 (xiān mín), defined as: forebears.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “forebears”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 祖先 | zǔ xiān | ancestors; forebears; (biology) ancestral species; ancient species from which present-day species evolved |
| 祖上 | zǔ shàng | ancestors; forebears |
| 前人 | qián rén | predecessor; forebears |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 先民.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 先生 | xiān sheng | teacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.) |
| 首先 | shǒu xiān | first of all; in the first place |
| 先进 (先進) | xiān jìn | sophisticated; advanced (technology etc); meritorious; exemplary (deeds etc) |
| 先后 (先後) | xiān hòu | early or late; first and last; priority; in succession; one after another |
| 优先 (優先) | yōu xiān | to have priority; to take precedence |
| 领先 (領先) | lǐng xiān | to lead; to be in front |
| 人民 | rén mín | the people |
| 民主 | mín zhǔ | democracy; democratic |
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.