祖 ancestor

ネ (NEcrophilia) + (Abe Lincoln's Hat) Same-ON
★☆☆☆☆
9 strokes
The Jukugo for this are AMAZING: two words, Spoonerized!!

Onyomi

SO

Mnemonic

I do necrophilia with Abe Lincoln because he's my favorite ancestor.

Jukugo

先祖(せんぞ)

one's family ancestors ★★☆☆☆
先 (earlier/ the tip) + 祖 (ancestor) = 先祖 (one's family ancestors)

one's own personal ancestors. Ancestor worship.

祖先(そせん)

far-away ancestor ☆☆☆☆☆
祖 (ancestor) + 先 (earlier/ the tip) = 祖先 (far-away ancestor)

includes the meaning of 先祖, but it's more broad. 祖先 can also refer to ancestors dating back to monkeys, fish, germs, etc. "The two words/phyla of fish/languages share a common ancestor."

Lookalikes

Meaning Hint Radical
組 one's team STRING 糸
祖 ancestor NECROPHILIA ネ
相 partner TREE 木
粗 rough texture / bad quality RICE 米
阻 hamper TOWN

Team spirit is the STRING that binds us into a unit.

We do NECROPHILIA with our ancestors.

The TREE is our partner in the oxygen/co2 cycle.

My RICE is bad quality so everyone in TOWN hampered me from selling it!

Synonyms

ancestor
先祖    祖先