初しょ祖そ

noun

first generation; founder of a family, school, or sect

Rare term used for the earliest ancestor of a family or the originator of a school of thought or religious sect. More common alternatives include 始祖 (しそ) or 開祖 (かいそ).

• この寺てらの初しょ祖そは、鎌かま倉くら時じ代だいの僧そうだと伝つたえられている。

  The founder of this temple is said to have been a monk of the Kamakura period.

• 彼かれはその流りゅう派はの初しょ祖そとして尊そん敬けいされている。

  He is respected as the founder of that school.