先 — Chinese character
先
xiān
first, former, previous
- Pinyin
- xiān
- Radical
- 10 ⼉ (Legs)
- Strokes
- 6
- Components
- 土 儿
- Formation
- ideographic — Someone stepping 止 in front of another person 儿
- Japanese
- 先 as a kanji
Common words with 先
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 先生 | xiān sheng | teacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.) |
| 首先 | shǒu xiān | first of all; in the first place |
| 先进 (先進) | xiān jìn | sophisticated; advanced (technology etc); meritorious; exemplary (deeds etc) |
| 先后 (先後) | xiān hòu | early or late; first and last; priority; in succession; one after another |
| 优先 (優先) | yōu xiān | to have priority; to take precedence |
| 领先 (領先) | lǐng xiān | to lead; to be in front |
| 先锋 (先鋒) | xiān fēng | vanguard; pioneer; avant-garde |
| 率先 | shuài xiān | to take the lead; to show initiative |
| 事先 | shì xiān | in advance; before the event |
| 先前 | xiān qián | before; previously |
| 原先 | yuán xiān | originally; original |
| 祖先 | zǔ xiān | ancestors; forebears; (biology) ancestral species; ancient species from which present-day species evolved |
English words written with 先
先 in the Chinese classics
Occurrences: Tao Te Ching 8 · Analects 19 · Art of War 24 · I Ching 6 · Mencius 51 · Zhuangzi 100 · Great Learning 11 · Doctrine of the Mean 5
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 4
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 7
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 25
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 62
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 66
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 67
- Analects 1.12
- Analects 2.8
Data: Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.