Chinese symbol for “ancestor”
祖
zǔ
ancestor; forefather; grandparents
The closest CC-CEDICT match for ancestor is 祖 (zǔ), defined as: ancestor; forefather; grandparents.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “ancestor”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 祖宗 | zǔ zōng | ancestor; forebear |
| 先人 | xiān rén | ancestor; forefather; sb's late father |
| 宗 | zōng | school; sect |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 祖.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 祖国 (祖國) | zǔ guó | motherland |
| 祖先 | zǔ xiān | ancestors; forebears; (biology) ancestral species; ancient species from which present-day species evolved |
| 祖父 | zǔ fù | father's father; paternal grandfather |
| 祖母 | zǔ mǔ | father's mother; paternal grandmother |
| 祖宗 | zǔ zōng | ancestor; forebear |
| 祖师 (祖師) | zǔ shī | founder (of a craft, religious sect etc) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “ancestor”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.