祖

zǔ

ancestor

surname Zu; forefather; grandparents

spirit (礻) + sound (且) = ancestor

The spirit radical (礻) signals something sacred or ritual — honoring those who came before. 且 mainly provides the sound zǔ and does not carry the ancestral meaning.

礻+且→祖
且Originally depicted a stacked offeringPhonetic
礻Variant of 示Semantic

他很想了解自己祖先的故事。

tā hěn xiǎng liǎo jiě zì jǐ zǔ xiān de gù shi。

He really wants to learn about the stories of his ancestors.

我们应该记住祖辈留下来的智慧。

wǒ men yīng gāi jì zhù zǔ bèi liú xià lái de zhì huì。

We should remember the wisdom passed down by our forefathers.

Words with 祖

祖传

zǔ chuán

passed on from ancestors

清太祖

qīng tài zǔ

posthumous title of Nurhaci 努爾哈赤|努尔哈赤[Nu3 er3 ha1 chi4] (1559-1626), founder and first Khan of the Manchu Later Jin dynasty 後金|后金[Hou4 Jin1] (from 1616)

鼻祖

bí zǔ

the earliest ancestor

宋太祖

sòng tài zǔ

Emperor Taizu of Song, posthumous title of the founding Song emperor Zhao Kuangyin 趙匡胤|赵匡胤 (927-976), reigned from 960

祖鲁

zǔ lǔ

Zulu

远祖

yuǎn zǔ

a remote ancestor

郑光祖

zhèng guāng zǔ

Zheng Guangzu, Yuan dynasty dramatist in the 雜劇|杂剧 tradition of musical comedy, one of the Four Great Yuan dramatists 元曲四大家

开山祖师

kāi shān zǔ shī

founding master of a monastery

开山鼻祖

kāi shān bí zǔ

founder

显祖

xiǎn zǔ

ancestors (old)

马祖

mǎ zǔ

Matsu Islands off Fujian, administered by Taiwan

马祖列岛

mǎ zǔ liè dǎo

Matsu Islands

More characters with 礻

祓礼祇祈祀祆祎祉