祖

Zu3
#1,023 most
frequent character
surname Zu

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

祖 shows an ancestral tablet 礻 and a sacrificial altar 且. Together they point to the first meaning, 'ancestors.' The meaning grew to elders or earlier generations. 且 qiě also supplies the sound, though the link is not clear in Mandarin.

Drawn as: ancestral tablet; sacrificial altar

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Same Characters, Different Readings

祖zǔ
ancestor, forefather, grandparents

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