# 祖 — ancestor

祖 means “ancestor”. It is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 9 strokes. On'yomi: ソ (so). It has no common kun'yomi. You'll see it in words such as 祖 (so, “ancestor; forefather”).

- Meaning: ancestor
- On'yomi: ソ (so)
- Kun'yomi: —
- Strokes: 9
- Level: JLPT N2 · set Family

## How to remember 祖

Parts: 礻 altar · 且 moreover

## Words with 祖

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 祖 | そ (so) | ancestor; forefather |

## Don't confuse it with

[査](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/inspect/) · [具](https://moji.ninja/n3-kanji/tool/) · [狙](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/aim-at/) · [阻](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/thwart/)

## More in the “Family” set

[婦](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/married-woman/) · [児](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/toddler/) · [妻](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/wife/) · [婚](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/marriage/) · [娘](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/daughter/) · [祖](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/ancestor/) · [幼](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/very-young/) · [孫](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/grandchild/) · [姓](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/surname/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/ancestor/. Last updated 2026-11-01.