祖

祖	U+7956, 祖 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7956

← 祕
[U+7955]

CJK Unified Ideographs

祗 →
[U+7957]

祖	U+FA50, 祖 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-FA50

← 祐
[U+FA4F]

CJK Compatibility Ideographs

祝 →
[U+FA51]

祖	U+2F953, 祖 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-2F953

← 𥘦
[U+2F952]

CJK Compatibility Ideographs Supplement

𥚚 →
[U+2F954]

Translingual

Han character

祖 (Kangxi radical 113, 示+5, 9 strokes, cangjie input 戈火月一 (IFBM), four-corner 3721₀, composition ⿰礻且(GHTJV) or ⿰示且(K))

Derived characters

𰂩鎺䔃𭉷𣗿𤍄𬠢𥜀𡏄

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 841, character 18
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 24664
Dae Jaweon: page 1260, character 1
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2391, character 4
Unihan data for U+7956
Unihan data for U+FA50
Unihan data for U+2F953

Chinese

simp. and trad.		祖
alternative forms		且

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 祖
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (且) (Zhengzhang, 2003)

	Old Chinese
虘	zaːl, zaː
蔖	zlaːl, sʰaːʔ
摣	rnaː, ʔsraː
袓	ʔsjaː, zaʔ
怚	ʔsjaː, ʔsas, *zaʔ
罝	*ʔsjaː
謯	ʔslja, ʔsraːʔ
姐	*ʔsjaːʔ
抯	ʔsljaːʔ, ljaːʔ, *ʔsraː
飷	*ʔsjaːʔ
且	sʰjaːʔ, ʔsa
趄	sʰjaːs, sʰa
笡	*sʰjaːs
查	ʔsraː, zraː, *zraː
柤	*ʔsraː
樝	*ʔsraː
皻	*ʔsraː
渣	*ʔsraː
楂	*zraː
苴	zraː, ʔsa, ʔsaʔ, sʰa
駔	ʔslaːŋʔ, zaːʔ
租	*ʔsaː
蒩	ʔsaː, ʔsaːʔ, *sʰa
祖	*ʔsaːʔ
組	*ʔsaːʔ
珇	*ʔsaːʔ
靻	*ʔsaːʔ
粗	sʰaː, zaːʔ
徂	*zaː
殂	*zaː
麆	zaːʔ, zras
伹	zaːʔ, sʰa
蛆	ʔsa, sʰa
沮	ʔsa, ʔsas, sʰa, zaʔ, *ʔsra
咀	ʔsaʔ, zaʔ
疽	*sʰa
雎	*sʰa
狙	sʰa, sʰas
岨	*sʰa
砠	*sʰa
坥	sʰa, sʰas
刞	*sʰas
覰	*sʰas
覷	*sʰas
跙	*zaʔ
筯	*das
菹	*ʔsra
葅	*ʔsra
阻	ʔsraʔ, ʔsras
俎	*ʔsraʔ
詛	ʔsraʔ, ʔsras
鉏	zra, zraʔ
豠	*zra
鋤	*zra
耡	zra, zras
齟	*zraʔ
助	*zras

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ʔsaːʔ) : semantic 示 + phonetic 且 (OC *sʰjaːʔ, *ʔsa). Specialization of 且. See there for more.

Etymology

“to Zucc”: Short for 祖克柏 (Zǔkèbó, “(Mark) Zuckerberg”), from English Zuckerberg.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): zǔ (zu³)

(Zhuyin): ㄗㄨˇ

(Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): zu³

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): зў (zw, II)
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): zou²

(Taishan, Wiktionary): du²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chú
Northern Min (KCR): cǔ
Eastern Min (BUC): cū
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): chó͘

(Teochew, Peng'im): zou²
Wu (Wugniu)
- (Northern): ⁵tsu

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: zǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄗㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: zǔ
  - Wade–Giles: tsu³
  - Yale: dzǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzuu
  - Palladius: цзу (czu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su²¹⁴/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: zu³
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: zu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su⁵³/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: зў (zw, II)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su⁵¹/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: zou²
  - Yale: jóu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzou²
  - Guangdong Romanization: zou²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sou̯³⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: du²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chú
  - Hakka Romanization System: zu`
  - Hagfa Pinyim: zu³
  - Sinological IPA: /t͡su³¹/
Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: cǔ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su²¹/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: cū
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su³³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chó͘
  - Tâi-lô: tsóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: zor
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /t͡sɔ⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sɔ⁴¹/
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang): /t͡sɔ⁵⁵⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: zou²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsóu
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sou⁵²/
Wu
- (Shanghai):
  - Wugniu: ⁵tsu
  - MiniDict: tsu^去
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²tsu
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡su³⁴/

Middle Chinese: tsuX

Rime
Character	祖
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	精 (13)
Final (韻)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	則古切
Baxter	tsuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡suo^X/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡suo^X/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡so^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡sɔ^X/
Li Rong	/t͡so^X/
Wang Li	/t͡su^X/
Bernard Karlgren	/t͡suo^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zou²

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[ts]ˤaʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*ʔsaːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	祖
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ tsu^X ›
Old Chinese	/*[ts]ˁaʔ/
English	ancestor
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	祖
Reading #	1/1
No.	10398
Phonetic component	且
Rime group	魚
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	祖
Old Chinese	/*ʔsaːʔ/

Definitions

祖

ancestor; forebear; forefather
祭祖 ― jìzǔ ― to offer sacrifices to one's ancestors
grandparent; grandfather or grandmother
祖父 ― zǔfù ― paternal grandfather
- 吾祖死於是，吾父死於是，今吾嗣為之十二年，幾死者數矣。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  吾祖死于是，吾父死于是，今吾嗣为之十二年，几死者数矣。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: 8th–9th century, Liu Zongyuan, 捕蛇者說
  Wú zǔ sǐ yú shì, wú fù sǐ yú shì, jīn wú sì wéi zhī shí'èr nián, jī sǐ zhě shù yǐ. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
founder
(literary) to follow the example of; to pattern after
- 秦王必祖張儀之故智。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  秦王必祖张仪之故智。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
  Qín wáng bì zǔ Zhāng Yí zhī gùzhì. [Pinyin]
  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
(Internet slang, usually passive voice) to ban someone on Facebook; to Zucc
a surname. Zu
祖沖之／祖冲之 ― Zǔ Chōngzhī ― Zu Chongzhi (Chinese astronomer and mathematician during the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties)
(Cantonese) A transliteration of the English male given name Joe