祖 meaning and stroke order
Ancestor, forefather; grandfather; surname
How to write 祖, stroke by stroke
9 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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- 9
Meaning of 祖
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- ancestor
- forefather
- grandparents
How 祖 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Spirit.
礻 gives the meaning and 且 hints at the sound.
Radical: 礻 (spirit), shared by 43 characters on this site.
How to remember 祖
The left side 礻 is the spirit or altar radical, and the right side 且 (qiě) gives the sound. Picture an altar where you honor the spirits of your ancestors, and you have 祖 (zǔ).
祖 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It appears in family words like 祖父 (zǔfù) and 祖母 (zǔmǔ), and in bigger ideas like 祖国 (zǔguó) and 祖先 (zǔxiān). Example: 我的祖籍是广东。(Wǒ de zǔjí shì Guǎngdōng.) My ancestral hometown is Guangdong.
Common mistake: Learners often write 衤 (the clothing radical, with an extra dot) instead of 礻, or confuse 祖 with 组 (zǔ, group), which has the silk radical 纟. They sound the same, so check the left side: 祖 is about family spirits, 组 is about grouping things.
Common words with 祖
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 祖母 | zǔmǔ | father's mother; paternal grandmother | HSK 6 |
| 祖父 | zǔfù | father's father; paternal grandfather | HSK 6 |
| 祖国 | zǔguó | motherland | HSK 6 |
| 祖先 | zǔxiān | ancestors; forebears; (biology) ancestral species; ancient species from which present-day | HSK 7-9 |
| 祖宗 | zǔzong | ancestor; forebear | HSK 7-9 |
| 祖传 | zǔchuán | passed on from ancestors; handed down from generation to generation | HSK 7-9 |
| 祖籍 | zǔjí | ancestral hometown; original domicile (and civil registration) | HSK 7-9 |
| 曾祖父 | zēngzǔfù | father's father's father; paternal great-grandfather | |
| 祖父母 | zǔfùmǔ | paternal grandparents | |
| 始祖 | shǐzǔ | primogenitor; founder of a school or trade | |
| 曾祖母 | zēngzǔmǔ | father's father's mother; paternal great-grandmother | |
| 先祖 | xiānzǔ | (literary) my deceased grandfather; (literary) ancestors | |
| 外祖父 | wàizǔfù | maternal grandfather (i.e. mother's father) |
祖 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 祖
How many strokes are in 祖?
祖 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 祖 mean?
祖 (zǔ) means ancestor, forefather; grandfather; surname. A common word with it is 祖母 (zǔmǔ), meaning "father's mother; paternal grandmother".
How do you pronounce 祖?
祖 is pronounced zǔ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 祖?
The radical of 祖 is 礻, which carries the idea of "spirit". Dictionaries list 祖 under this radical.
Is 祖 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 祖 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 祖父 used for both grandfathers?
In its precise sense, 祖父 (zǔfù) means your father's father. Your mother's father is 外祖父 (wàizǔfù). In daily speech people usually say 爷爷 (yéye) and 外公 (wàigōng) instead.
Why is 宗 in 祖宗 pronounced without a tone?
In 祖宗 (zǔzong), the second syllable is commonly read in the neutral tone in spoken Mandarin. The word also shows up in emotional expressions, such as calling a troublesome child 小祖宗 (xiǎo zǔzong), meaning a little tyrant.