祖 (zǔ): ancestor, forefather, grandparents
祖 (zǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “ancestor.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 礻 (semantic) and 且 (phonetic). It ranks #1024 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 祖 spirit. Its radical form 礻 (spirit) appears in many related characters such as 票 (piào, ticket), 视 (shì, (literary, or bound form) to look at), 示 (shì, to show).
Definitions
- ancestor
- forefather
- grandparents
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 祖 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 祖
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 祖母noun | zǔ mǔ | father's mother |
| 祖父noun | zǔ fù | father's father |
| 曾祖父noun | zēng zǔ fù | father's father's father |
| 祖父母noun | zǔ fù mǔ | paternal grandparents |
| 佛祖noun | fó zǔ | Buddha |
| 外祖母noun | wài zǔ mǔ | mother's mother |
| 外祖父noun | wài zǔ fù | maternal grandfather (i.e. mother's father) |
| 祖宗noun | zǔ zōng | ancestor |
| 曾祖母noun | zēng zǔ mǔ | father's father's mother |
| 祖传verb | zǔ chuán | passed on from ancestors |
| 先祖noun | xiān zǔ | (literary) my deceased grandfather |
| 祖辈noun | zǔ bèi | ancestors |
| 始祖noun | shǐ zǔ | primogenitor |
| 鼻祖noun | bí zǔ | the earliest ancestor |
| 祭祖verb | jì zǔ | to offer sacrifices to one's ancestors |
祖 appears in 96 compound words: 33 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 30 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 祖 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
to forget one's roots; to be ignorant of the history of one's own country or ancestors
to forget one's roots; to be ignorant of the history of one's own country or ancestors
Example Sentences
祖字由9笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
zǔ zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "祖" consists of nine strokes and has a very ingenious structure.
北投慈后宫妈祖遶境明登场 3千信众涌入、警14时起交管
běi tóu cí hòu gōng mā zǔ 遶 jìng míng dēng chǎng 3 qiān xìn zhòng chōng rù , jǐng 1 4 shí qǐ jiāo guǎn
Beitou Ciharem Mazu appeared in the Ming Dynasty, 3,000 believers poured in, and the police began to be in charge at 14 o'clock
男生小便后甩一甩是进化遗留行为吗?祖先为防追踪气味而甩干吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi shì jìn huà yí liú háng wéi ma ? zǔ xiān wéi fáng zhuī zōng qì wèi ér shuǎi gān ma
Is it an evolutionary behavior for boys to shake after urinating? Did the ancestors throw it away to prevent tracking odors?
年节热闹散去43人团圆剩祖母身影 中国女子感慨:热闹过后难免孤寂
nián jié rè nào sàn qù 4 3 rén tuán yuán shèng zǔ mǔ shēn yǐng zhōng guó nǚ zǐ gǎn kǎi : rè nào guò hòu nán miǎn gū jì
The excitement of the New Year dispersed, and 43 people reunited with their grandmother, and the Chinese woman sighed: After the excitement, loneliness is inevitable
...层)山西洪洞大槐树:家庭亲子游成主流 根祖文化激活年俗新体验
. . . céng ) shān xī hóng dòng dà huái shù : jiā tíng qīn zǐ yóu chéng zhǔ liú gēn zǔ wén huà jī huó nián sú xīn tǐ yàn
... Layer) Hongdong Big Locust Tree in Shanxi: Family parent-child travel has become the mainstream, and the root ancestor culture activates a new experience of New Year's customs
繁荣昌盛,越来越好!这个春节听听大家给祖国的祝福
fán róng chāng shèng , yuè lái yuè hǎo ! zhè gè chūn jié tīng tīng dà jiā gěi zǔ guó de zhù fú
Prosperity and prosperity, better and better! This Spring Festival, listen to everyone's blessings to the motherland
祖父的年龄比我大五倍。
Zǔfù de niánlíng bǐ wǒ dà wǔ bèi.
My grandfather is five times as old as I am.
祖母的骨灰是在骨灰瓮在寺院。
Zǔmǔ de gǔhuī shì zài gǔhuī wèng zài sìyuàn.
Grandmother's ashes are in an urn at the temple.
南非的祖鲁族人有着自己独特的语言。
Nánfēi de Zǔlǔ zúrén yǒuzhe zìjǐ dútè de yǔyán.
The Zulu tribe in South Africa has its own language.
我已经很久没有探望过祖母了。
Wǒ yǐjīng hěn jiǔ méiyǒu tànwàng guo zǔmǔ le.
It's been a long time since I visited my grandmother.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 祖 (zǔ) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 祖 and 助?
How many strokes does 祖 have?
What is the radical of 祖?
What are the components of 祖?
What are common words containing 祖?
What characters sound the same as 祖 (zǔ)?
Is 祖 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 祖 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.