noun #11,683

Meanings

  1. 1 ancestor
  2. 2 grandfather

Examples

Zǔguó
homeland; motherland
Zǔxiān
ancestors
Zǔfù
paternal grandfather

Tips

memory
(altar) + (moreover) — rituals for ancestors at the altar

Components

radical
shì
spirit; altar (left-side)
Spirit radical on the left — left-side form of — marks as a religious or ritual word. Ancestors are venerated through altar offerings in Chinese tradition. Same radical drives (god), (rite), (blessing), (pray). Don't confuse with (clothing), which has five strokes.
phonetic
qiě
moreover; and (also: ancestral tablet)
supplies the sound — qiě/zǔ are both readings of this character — and is also the original semantic element: originally pictured a stacked ancestral tablet on an altar. So is doubly motivated: spirit-altar plus ancestor-tablet, the canonical ancestor-worship character.

Stroke Order