Chinese Character Wiki
先

xiān

first

Depicts a person (人) stepping forward (止) leading the way.

Components
止 iconic component

止  Iconic component

zhǐ

  

(foot), stop

Depicts a foot stepping forward.

人 iconic component

人  Iconic component

rén

  

person

Evolution

先 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
先 Bronze script Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze script

Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)
先 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
先 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
先 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

先  

xiān

first, former, previous; early; prior; former; in advance; first

Most common words with 先
Freq.
Word
Meaning

先生

teacher

先

early

首先

first (of all)

先进

to advance

先后

priority

Component uses

Meaning component in 1 character (1 verified)

兟

Sound component in 10 characters (2 verified)

选 洗 宪 酰 诜 銑 铣 跣 冼 筅

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*sˤər

sen

xiān

first

*sˤər-s

senH

xiàn

go first


Statistics

HSK level 1

Appears in 98.1579% of movies

115th most common character in movies

188th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

6

Unicode

U+5148

Shuowen

“先，前進也。从儿，从之。”


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