先祖

Chinese

		early; prior; former early; prior; former; in advance; first	ancestor; forefather; grandparents
simp. and trad. (先祖)		先	祖
anagram		祖先

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiānzǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄢㄗㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sin¹ zou²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): siên-chú
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sian-chó͘

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiānzǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄢㄗㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sianzǔ
  - Wade–Giles: hsien¹-tsu³
  - Yale: syān-dzǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiantzuu
  - Palladius: сяньцзу (sjanʹczu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ t͡su²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sin¹ zou²
  - Yale: sīn jóu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sin¹ dzou²
  - Guangdong Romanization: xin¹ zou²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːn⁵⁵ t͡sou̯³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: siên-chú
  - Hakka Romanization System: xien^ˊ zu^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: xian¹ zu³
  - Sinological IPA: /si̯en²⁴ t͡su³¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sian-chó͘
  - Tâi-lô: sian-tsóo
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sienzor
  - IPA (Xiamen): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sɔ⁵³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /siɛn³³ t͡sɔ⁵⁵⁴/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sɔ⁵³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sɔ⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sɔ⁴¹/

Noun

先祖

(literary) ancestors; forebears; forefathers
(literary) earliest ancestor; primogenitor; progenitor
(literary, specifically) deceased grandfather

Synonyms

(ancestors):

上輩 / 上辈 (shàngbèi)
上輩子 / 上辈子 (shàngbèizi)
先人 (xiānrén)
先代 (xiāndài) (literary)
先古 (xiāngǔ) (literary)
先君 (xiānjūn) (literary)
先輩 / 先辈 (xiānbèi)
公婆 (Hokkien)
公媽 / 公妈 (Puxian Min, Min Nan)
早勻 / 早匀 (Xiamen Hokkien)
父祖 (fùzǔ) (literary)
皇考 (huángkǎo) (archaic)
祖上 (zǔshàng)
祖先 (zǔxiān)
祖公 (Puxian Min, Hokkien)
祖公媽 / 祖公妈 (Puxian Min)
祖宗 (zǔzōng)
老祖宗
老輩 / 老辈 (lǎobèi)

(earliest ancestor): 鼻祖 (bízǔ), 始祖 (shǐzǔ)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
先	祖
せん Grade: 1	そ > ぞ Grade: 5
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) せんぞ [séꜜǹzò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
IPA^(key): [sẽ̞nd͡zo̞]

Noun

先(せん)祖(ぞ) • (senzo)

ancestor

Synonyms

祖先(そせん) (sosen)

Antonyms

子孫(しそん) (shison): descendant, scion

References

^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
先	祖

Noun

先祖 • (seonjo) (hangeul 선조)

hanja form^? of 선조 (“ancestors”)