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Kyōiku Kanji

祖 — ancestor

Grade 5
Radical ⽰ · radical 113 The building block this kanji is filed under

祖 (readings: そ; Japanese kanji) means “ancestor”. It is a Grade 5 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 5 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 祖父母 (grandparents).

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What does 祖 mean?

Full details, readings & example
Kanji
Meaningancestor
Readings
GradeGrade 5 (Hard)
CurriculumKyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example祖父母 (grandparents)

How to read 祖

祖 is read depending on the word.

Words with 祖

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Updated: 2026-08-09
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