• 1023rd most frequent character
  • Adds ~0.02% to your reading coverage
  • 2 dictionary entries
  • Appears in 44 words
  • Component in 0 characters

Decomposition

1Once
2Radical
3Graphical

Pinyin & Meaning

1. (Zu3)surname Zu
2. (zu3)ancestor • forefather • grandparents

Pronunciation Clues

There are no phonetic clues for this character.
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Example Words

High Frequency

佛祖 
祖国 (祖國)
祖宗 

Medium Frequency

始祖 
妈祖 (媽祖)
容祖儿 (容祖兒)
王祖贤 (王祖賢)
 
祖传 (祖傳)
祖先 
祖坟 (祖墳)
祖母 
祖父 
祖籍 
祖辈 (祖輩)
祭祖 
鼻祖 
Learn in contextNew · From the creator of HanziCraftReadCraft generates unique graded stories tailored to your level - practice characters in context.

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  • 188th most frequent character
  • Adds ~0.11% to your reading coverage
  • 1 dictionary entry
  • Appears in 72 words
  • Component in 11 characters

Decomposition

1Once
2Radical
3Graphical
丿

Pinyin & Meaning

1. xiān (xian1)early • prior • former • in advance • first

Pronunciation Clues

There are no phonetic clues for this character.
📚Save to a study list and track your progressSign up to create custom character lists, mark characters as learned, and build your knowledge step by step.

Appears In

also appears in:

Example Words

High Frequency

 
先生 

Medium Frequency

事先 
优先 (優先)
先后 (先後)
先进 (先進)
先锋 (先鋒)
抢先 (搶先)
祖先 
领先 (領先)
首先 
Learn in contextNew · From the creator of HanziCraftReadCraft generates unique graded stories tailored to your level - practice characters in context.
Decomposition Levels:
Level 1 - Once: Only divided once. So only two components.
Level 2 - Radical: Radical Decomposition. The character gets decomposed into its lowest radical components. For the complete list visit the Radical wikipedia page.
Level 3 - Graphical: Graphical Decomposition. Shows all the strokes & lowest level of components that make up the character.
If you see questions marks or too many "block" characters, especially when it comes to level 3 decomposition you might need the correct font.