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Kanji Detail for 祖 - "ancestor, founder, grandfather"

祖

  • Meaning

    祖 means "ancestor, founder, grandfather."

    1. Ancestor - One's forebears; those who came before.

    2. Founder - The originator; one who establishes.

    3. Grandfather - A parent's parent.

    4. Origin - The beginning; the source.

  • Words using 祖

    • 祖国 そこく Listen homeland; motherland; fatherland
    • 祖父 そふ Listen grandfather; old man; kyogen mask used for the role of an old man
    • 祖母 そぼ Listen grandmother
    • 先祖 せんぞ Listen ancestor; forefather; foremother
    • 祖父母 そふぼ Listen grandparents
    • 祖先 そせん Listen ancestor
    • 元祖 がんそ Listen originator; pioneer; inventor
    • 教祖 きょうそ Listen founder of a religious sect

  • Four-character idioms with 祖

    • 先祖伝来 せんぞでんらい Listen inherited; family (heirloom); ancestral
    • 父祖伝来 ふそでんらい Listen hereditary; patrimonial; handed down from generation to generation
    • 祖先伝来 そせんでんらい Listen hereditary
    • 祖先崇拝 そせんすうはい Listen ancestor worship

  • Tattoo check: 祖

    • Verified meaning: ancestor, founder, grandfather
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read そ, たかそ)

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 祖

    Surnames 祖(そ)Listen 祖(たかそ)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    ancestor; pioneer; founder

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    ancestor, forefather; grandfather

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname Zu

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    ancestor, forefather; grandfather; surname

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    One's father's father. All ancestors and first ancestors are also generally called 祖. | To follow someone's teachings from afar is called 祖. (Doctrine of the Mean) "Zhongni transmitted the ways of Yao and Shun." | A sacrifice name. When setting out on a journey, sacrificing to the road god. Today calling seeing someone off 祖餞 originates from this. | Buddhists call those who achieved enlightenment through cultivation and are revered by the world 祖. Such as saying 成佛作祖 (becoming Buddha and patriarch), and 祖師 (patriarch) and such.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    so(ソ) ソ

  • Kunyomi

    tip
    none

  • Strokes

    tip

    9 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    示 礻 (shimesu・shimesuhen)

  • Related Keywords

    ancestor founder grandfather origin ancestral forebear forefather foremother genealogy heritage lineage matriarch patriarch precursor progenitor root family tree foundation

Sentences including 祖

  • Grandmother carried the table by herself.

  • My grandmother gave me more than i wanted.

  • I live with my mother , brother and my grandparents.

  • My grandmother became sick last week.

  • They defended their country.

  • It is ten years since my grandfather died.

  • My grandmother has got old.

  • I saw grandfather last week.

  • My grandfather likes to walk.

  • This is a picture of my grandmother.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 示 礻 (shimesu・shimesuhen)

See all kanji with this radical →

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