先 — kanji meaning “before”
先
before, ahead, previous, future, precedence
- Meanings
- before, ahead, previous, future, precedence
- On'yomi
- セン (sen)
- Kun'yomi
- さき、ま.ず
- Name readings
- ぽん
- Strokes
- 6
- School grade
- 1
- JLPT (old scale)
- Level 4
- Newspaper frequency
- #173 of 2,500
- Classical radical
- 10
- Chinese reading
- xiān — Chinese character page
Words with 先
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 先生 | せんせい sensei | teacher; instructor; master |
| 優先 | ゆうせん yuusen | preference; priority; precedence |
| 先輩 | せんぱい senpai | senior (at school, work, etc.); superior; elder |
| 先日 | せんじつ senjitsu | the other day; a few days ago |
| 先週 | せんしゅう senshuu | last week; the week before |
| 先月 | せんげつ sengetsu | last month |
| 先頭 | せんとう sentou | head (of a line, group, etc.); front; lead |
| 先端 | せんたん sentan | pointed end; tip; point |
| 先祖 | せんぞ senzo | ancestor; forefather; foremother |
| 最先端 | さいせんたん saisentan | cutting edge; leading edge; forefront |
| 先行 | せんこう senkou | going ahead; going first |
| 真っ先 | まっさき massaki | the head; the foremost; beginning |
Data: KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.