| 657 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade) |
| 758 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot) |
| 736 | A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall) |
| 1325 | A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage |
| 3243 | Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson) |
| 540 | Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 772 | Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki) |
| 850 | Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 622 | Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 632 | Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 824 | Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono) |
| 1423 | Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide |
| 1145 | Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 617 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 823 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern) |
| 1795 | Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette) |
| 24664P | Morohashi |
| 914 | New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 4083 | New Nelson (John Haig) |
| 1779 | Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig) |
| 1918 | Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig) |
| 701 | Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask) |
ancestor, pioneer, founder
- On:
- ソ
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 5
JLPT level N3
1226 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Stroke order
On reading compounds
- 祖 【ソ】 ancestor, forefather, progenitor, originator, pioneer, inventor, founder, grandfather
- 祖国 【ソコク】 homeland, motherland, fatherland, native country
- 元祖 【ガンソ】 originator, pioneer, inventor, founder, progenitor, primogenitor, founder of a family line
- 教祖 【キョウソ】 founder of a religious sect
Readings
- Japanese names:
- い
- Korean:
- jo
Spanish
- antepasado
- pionero
- fundador
Portuguese
- antecessor
- pioneiro
- fundador
French
- ancêtre
- pionnier
- fondateur
| 673 | 2001 Kanji |
| 4e5.4 | The Kanji Dictionary |
| 1-4-5 | SKIP code |
| 3721.0 | Four corner code |
| 1-33-36 | JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code |
| 7956 | Unicode hex code |
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1
JLPT level N5
173 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Stroke order
On reading compounds
- 先 【セン】 former, previous, old, first move (in go, shogi, etc.), opening move
- 先駆 【センク】 forerunner, precursor, pioneer, leader, outrider, outriding
- 機先 【キセン】 forestall
- 互先 【タガイセン】 even game (esp. in go)
Kun reading compounds
- 先 【さき】 point, tip, end, nozzle, head (of a line), front, first, before, ahead (of), (the way) ahead, beyond, future, previous, prior, former, recent, last, destination, address, place where you do something, rest (e.g. of a story), continuation, remaining part, the other party
- 先行き 【さきゆき】 the future, future prospects
- 小手先 【こてさき】 tip of the hand, (use of) one's hands, cheap trick, superficial wit, superficial cleverness, cheap, makeshift (e.g. measures), shortsighted, perfunctory, halfhearted
- 矛先 【ほこさき】 point of a spear, spearhead, focus (of one's attack, criticism, etc.), aim, target, brunt, force (of an argument), edge
- 先ず 【まず】 first (of all), firstly, to begin with, before anything else, probably, most likely, almost certainly, virtually, more or less (satisfactory), on the whole, reasonably, anyway, at any rate, for now (at least), for the time being
- まず第一に 【まずだいいちに】 first of all, in the first place, to begin with, for starters
Readings
- Japanese names:
- ぽん
- Korean:
- seon
Spanish
- antes
- adelante
- previo
- precedencia
- extremo
- punta
- final
- anterior
Portuguese
- antes
- prévio
- na frente
- futuro
- precedência
French
- avant
- devant
- précédent
- futur
- antériorité
| 33 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade) |
| 43 | A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot) |
| 49 | A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall) |
| 201 | A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage |
| 571 | Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson) |
| 65 | Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 16 | Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki) |
| 280 | Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 2.18 | Japanese for Busy People |
| 50 | Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 50 | Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 48 | Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono) |
| 145 | Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide |
| 3046 | Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 1552 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 2123 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern) |
| 254 | Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette) |
| 1349 | Morohashi |
| 2394 | New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 350 | New Nelson (John Haig) |
| 248 | Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig) |
| 263 | Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig) |
| 115 | The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley) |
| 54 | Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask) |
| 2457 | 2001 Kanji |
| 3b3.7 | The Kanji Dictionary |
| 2-4-2 | SKIP code |
| 2421.1 | Four corner code |
| 1-32-72 | JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code |
| 5148 | Unicode hex code |
Jōyō kanji, taught in junior high
JLPT level N1
1458 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Stroke order
On reading compounds
- 霊 【レイ】 soul, spirit, departed soul, ghost
- 霊園 【レイエン】 (garden) cemetery, park-style cemetery, memorial park
- 心霊 【シンレイ】 spirit (e.g. human spirit), soul, spirit, ghost, ethereal being
- 英霊 【エイレイ】 spirits of war dead, person of great ability, soul of a talented person
- 霊 【リョウ】 vengeful spirit, revengeful ghost
- 霊異 【レイイ】 miracle, wonder, wondrous thing
- 怨霊 【オンリョウ】 revengeful ghost, apparition
- 新精霊 【アラショウリョウ】 spirit of someone on the first Obon after their death
Kun reading compounds
- 魂 【たましい】 soul, spirit
- 魂送り 【たまおくり】 sending off the spirits of the dead
Readings
- Korean:
- ryeong
Spanish
- espíritu
- alma
- dios
Portuguese
- espíritos
- alma
- fantasmas
French
- esprits
- âmes
| 1923 | A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall) |
| 1361 | A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage |
| 5056 | Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson) |
| 1299 | Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 1891 | Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki) |
| 2390 | Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 1168 | Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 1225 | Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 1688 | Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono) |
| 1867 | Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide |
| 3480 | Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 1793 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 2442 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern) |
| 1808 | Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette) |
| 42309P | Morohashi |
| 2805 | New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 6532 | New Nelson (John Haig) |
| 1791 | Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig) |
| 1930 | Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig) |
| 1815 | Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask) |
| 3174 | 2001 Kanji |
| 8d7.2 | The Kanji Dictionary |
| 2-8-7 | SKIP code |
| 1010.2 | Four corner code |
| 1-46-78 | JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code |
| 970a | Unicode hex code |