先祖|せんぞsenzo[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. nounancestor; forefather; foremother
   ある出来事できごとを記念きねんしたり先祖せんぞの伝説でんせつを伝つたえるために建たてられたものであった。↗

   They were erected to commemorate a certain event or to tell an ancestral legend.

• Synonym祖先そせんNeutralAncestors in general, including the evolutionary forebears of living things, as in 「人類の祖先」; 「先祖」 usually means the ancestors of one's own family.
• Synonym先人せんじんNeutralPeople of the past or predecessors, as in 「先人の知恵」; not limited to blood relatives.
• Synonym祖そWrittenWritten word for a founder or originator, as in 「近代医学の祖」; often the pioneer of a field.
• Related先つ祖さきつおやWrittenArchaic written word for an ancestor; virtually never used in modern Japanese.
• Related御祖みおやFormalFormal honorific for an ancestor, found mainly in Shinto rites; rarely used today.
• Antonym子孫しそんNeutralDescendants or offspring; the direct opposite of 「先祖」.
• Antonym末裔まつえいWrittenWritten word for distant descendants; the counterpart of 「先祖」.

Use 「先祖」 for the ancestors of one's own family, as in 「先祖代々」 and 「ご先祖様」. For the ancestors of living things or a people, say 「祖先」; for people of the past in general, 「先人」. The opposite of 「先祖」 is 「子孫」.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 家系かけいや血統けっとうの初代しょだい。また、その人ひと。その初代しょだいから家系かけいなどで連つらなってきた人ひとなど。先祖せんぞ代々だいだい。