先

The character "先" has 6 strokes. "先" is one of the 3500 commonly used characters. The character "先" has 1 pronunciations, . The pronunciations of "先" are "xiān" . View the stroke order of "先">>

The basic meaning of the Chinese character "先"

n.: first; lead; initiative; elder generation; ancestor; forefather; past; beginning; initiation

adj.: leading; pioneering; initiating; preceding (in time); early; antecedent; prior; of previous generation(s); late; deceased

adv.: first; before (something else in order, time, preference, importance, etc); early on; temporarily; for the time being; for now

• first : num.最先；最早；第一；最高的；首要的；最重要的；第一位的；第一次；首次；初次
• lead : v.带领（人）前进；牵着…前进；带领；率领；领先于；过；开始；让；组织
• initiative : n.首创精神；创造力；主动性；积极性；先机；对策；新举措；公民立法创制权；提议
• ancestor : n.祖先；原种；原型
• forefather : n.祖先；祖宗；前辈；先驱；前人
• past : adj.过去的；不复存在的；以前的；刚过去的；过去时的
• beginning : n.开端；开始；起点；开头；背景；出身；最早阶段；一种关系的结束和另一种关系的开始；最先的部分
• initiation : n.开始；启蒙；入会；加入
• leading : adj.最重要的
• pioneering : adj.创造性的；开拓性的
• initiating : vt.创始；开始；使初步了解；发起；（initiate的现在分词）
• early : adj.早的；提早的；开始阶段的；开始时的；早期的；初期的；清早的；一大早的；在前的；前面的
• antecedent : n.前事；前身；祖先；社会与家庭背景；先行词；前件
• prior : adj.在先的；在前的；居先的；先前的
• late : adj.晚的；迟的；迟来的；已故的；最近的；最新的；后期；以前的；原来的；晚期的
• deceased : n.已故者；死者
• early on : 在早期, 早先
• temporarily : adv.临时地；暂时地
• for the time being : 暂时；眼下
• for now : 目前；暂时

Form words with "先"

先张法预应力 pretensioned prestressing

先张法混凝土 pretensioned concrete

Example phrases using "先"

• 申请新护照时，先必须交出旧的。

  You must give up/surrender your old passport when applying for a new one.

• 先歇手吃点东西，然后再接着干。

  Let’s stop for a snack and then continue our work.

• 我想先闲荡一会儿看她会不会来。

  I thought I’d hang around for a while and see if she would come.

• 先吊吊他的胃口，再告诉他实情。

  Don’t tell him the truth right away but keep him in suspense for a while.

• 在先我年纪小，什么事也不明白。

  I was very young then and could hardly understand what was happening around me.

• 你先把事情的来龙去脉讲一遍。

  Tell us the ins and outs of the matter. / Tell us the whole story.

• 只有先停战，才有解决问题的可能。

  Settlement is not possible before the fighting stops.

• 教授在开讲前，先环视了一下教室。

  The professor looked around the classroom and then began her lecture.

• 先佯攻军队左翼，再正面攻击。

  The feint on the army’s left flank was followed by a frontal attack.

• 让我先算计算计，然后再给你答复。

  Let me think it over before I give you an answer.