← Back

祖

Ancestor
Stroke count: 9

Readings

On readingソ
JLPT level: N3JōyōGrade 5Level 32

Meanings

  1. ancestorRtK
  2. founder
  3. pioneer
  1. forefather
  2. progenitor
  3. originator

Popular Usage

祖父祖母先祖祖先お祖父さんお祖母さん

Radicals and components

Radical示spirit礻variant
Components
How it's built
祖
  • →
  • →
    • →
    • →

Mnemonic (RtK)

ⓘ

altar (示) · shelf · my bookshelves

From "Remembering the Kanji" by James Heisig · Frame 1918

Compound words

祖父そふ
grandfather
祖母そぼ
grandmother
先祖せんぞ
ancestor; forefather; foremother
祖先そせん
ancestor
お祖父さんおじいさん
grandfather; male senior-citizen; old man
お祖母さんおばあさん
grandmother; old woman; female senior citizen
教祖きょうそ
founder of a religious sect
元祖がんそ
originator; pioneer; inventor; founder; progenitor
宗祖しゅうそ
sect founder
祖国そこく
homeland; motherland; fatherland; native country
祖父母そふぼ
grandparents
遠祖えんそ
remote ancestor
開祖かいそ
(sect) founder
祖廟そびょう
mausoleum containing the remains of one's ancestors
祖妣そひ
deceased grandmother
媽祖まそ
Mazu (Chinese goddess of the sea)
外祖父がいそふ
maternal grandfather
皇祖妣こうそひ
deceased grandmother of the emperor
曾祖父そうそふ
great-grandfather
曾祖母そうそぼ
great-grandmother
曽祖父そうそふ
great-grandfather
曽祖母そうそぼ
great-grandmother
媽祖廟まそびょう
Mazu temple
曽祖父母そうそふぼ
great-grandparents

Additional Examples

彼は祖母によって育てられた。
He was brought up by her grandmother.tatoeba
彼は祖父似だ。
He resembles his grandfather.tatoeba
彼は祖父を慕い尊敬している。
He adores his grandfather.tatoeba
彼は祖父を怖がっている。
He is afraid of his grandfather.tatoeba
母方の祖母が日本人。
His grandmother on the maternal side is Japanese.wiki
祖母は松平定信の娘である。
Her grandmother was a daughter of Sadanobu MATSUDAIRA.wiki
もと祖先の霊を祀る所。
Mausoleums were once used to perform memorial rites in honor of one's ancestors.wiki
いわば大門素麺の祖先。
That is so to say an ancestor of Okado somen.wiki

Stroke Order

9 strokes

Ancestor. 礻 (altar) + 且 (an ancestral tablet) — an altar with a memorial tablet. 祖父 — grandfather.

Practice Writing

Practice Writing 祖

Draw with a guide, then from memory — checked at every step