祖
祖 — Ancestor
ancestor, pioneer, founder
On’yomiソ (so)
Kun’yomi—
Stroke order (9 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 祖
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 祖国 | そこく sokoku | homeland; motherland; fatherland |
| 祖父 | そふ sofu | grandfather; old man; kyogen mask used for the role of an old man |
| 祖母 | そぼ sobo | grandmother |
| 先祖 | せんぞ senzo | ancestor; forefather; foremother |
| 祖父母 | そふぼ sofubo | grandparents |
| 祖先 | そせん sosen | ancestor |
Study notes
祖 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1226 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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