Course Flashcards Sentences Texts Games
Tools
My Decks
Manage custom decks
Hanzi
Characters & strokes
Dictionary
Search everything
LearnChinese.ai - Learn Mandarin Chinese Online LearnChinese.ai - Learn Mandarin Chinese Online
LearnChinese.ai - Learn Mandarin Chinese Online LearnChinese.ai - Learn Mandarin Chinese Online
Course Flashcards Sentences Texts Games
My Decks
Manage custom decks
Hanzi
Characters & strokes
Dictionary
Search everything
Login Sign Up
Back to Dictionary
祖
Zǔ
1. surname Zu
Very Common • Top 2% ✏️ 10 strokes Noun

Character Breakdown (Single character)

祖
zǔ
ancestor, forefather; grandfather; surname
HSK 6 9 丶

Compound Words (20)

佛祖
Fózǔ
Buddha
先祖
xiānzǔ
deceased grandfather
叔祖
shūzǔ
grandfather's younger brother
太祖
tàizǔ
Great Ancestor (posthumous title, e.g. for the founder of a dynasty)
始祖
shǐzǔ
primogenitor
妈祖
Māzǔ
Matsu, name of a sea goddess still widely worshipped on the SE China coast and in SE Asia
家祖
jiāzǔ
(polite) my paternal grandfather
彭祖
PéngZǔ
Peng Zu (legendary figure of Taoism who lived 800 years)
曾祖
zēngzǔ
great-grandfather (father of one's paternal grandfather)
正祖
Zhèngzǔ
Jeonjo (1752-1800), 22nd king of Korean Joseon dynasty
祖传
zǔchuán
passed on from ancestors
祖先
zǔxiān
ancestor
HSK 6
祖国
zǔguó
ancestral land
HSK 6
祖坟
zǔfén
ancestral tomb
祖宗
zǔzōng
ancestor
祖居
zǔjū
former residence
祖母
zǔmǔ
father's mother
祖父
zǔfù
father's father
HSK 6
祖籍
zǔjí
ancestral hometown
祖系
zǔxì
ancestry

Alternate Entries

祖
zǔ
ancestor / forefather / grandparents

Metadata

Category
Chinese
HSK Character Level
6
Character Frequency Rank
1,024
Word Frequency Rank
2,046 of 84,292

LearnChinese.ai

Master Mandarin

Site

About Custom Decks Accounts & Social Contact

Editorial

Learning Resources Blog HSK 2.0 vs 3.0

Legal

Privacy Policy Terms of Service

Support

❤️ Donate

© 2026 LearnChinese.ai. All rights reserved.