ancestor worship

noun

Religious or quasireligious worship of the spirits of one’s ancestors.

Similar
ancestorismancestralism
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Meanings

nounancestor worship (uncountable)
  1. uncountableanthropologyReligious or quasireligious worship of the spirits of one’s ancestors.

    The ancient quarians practiced ancestor worship. Even after abandoning faith for secularism, quarians continued to revere the wisdom of elders.

    2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Quarians: Religion Codex entry

    Synonyms: ancestorism, ancestralism

Synonyms & antonyms

nounReligious or quasireligious worship of the spirits of one’s ancestors.

Similar
ancestorismancestralism

Translations

Afrikaans vooroueraanbidding
  • vooroueraanbiddingthe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Chinese Mandarin 祖先崇拜
  • 祖先崇拜 (zǔxiān chóngbài)the veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Dutch voorouderverering, vooroudercultus
  • vooroudervereringthe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
  • vooroudercultusthe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
  • manismethe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Finnish esi-isien palvonta, esivanhempien palvonta
  • esi-isien palvontathe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
  • esivanhempien palvontathe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Japanese 祖先崇拝
  • 祖先崇拝 (sosen-suuhai)the veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Polish kult przodków
  • kult przodkówthe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Portuguese culto dos ancestrais, culto aos ancestrais
  • culto dos ancestraisthe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
  • culto aos ancestraisthe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Russian культ пре́дков
  • культ пре́дков (kulʹt prédkov)the veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Swedish förfädersdyrkan
  • förfädersdyrkanthe veneration of the spirits of one’s ancestors
Cite this entry
APA

ancestor worship. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ancestor%20worship

MLA

“ancestor worship.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ancestor%20worship. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ancestor worship,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ancestor%20worship.

Source: ancestor worship on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.