先 · xiān
first, former, previous
Meanings & readings
Meaning & readings
first, former, previous
- Mandarin
- xiān
- Cantonese
- sin1
Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.
Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese
Readings recorded for 先 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.
Japanese 日本語
Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.
On’yomi · katakana
Kun’yomi · hiragana
Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.
Go deeperJisho ↗Wiktionary ↗
Korean 한국어
Hanja readings · Hangul
Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.
Go deeperNaver Hanja ↗Wiktionary ↗
Reading sources explained
- 선
- KS X 1001 (0) · Educational Hanja (E)
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
Character readings · Quốc ngữ
Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.
Go deeperHán Việt (Thi Viện) ↗Wiktionary ↗
Form & structure
Writing & identity
- Unicode
- U+5148
- Radical
- 儿 · 10
- Strokes
- 6 · Unihan
- Residual
- 4
Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.
Stroke order
6 strokesModern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.
Graphical structure
How to read these symbols
⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.
BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.
Words & connections
Words using 先
Character connections
Follow this component
Sentence context · 1 matches
我们先吃饭，然后再走。
Source, contributors & licenses
Mandarin: Tatoeba #400336 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · Text editors: GlossaMatik · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log · Current owner: GlossaMatik
English: Tatoeba #400331 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log · Current owner: CM
Source text unchanged. Original contributor and text editors are credited from the source log, separately from the current owner.
History & distinctions
Related forms
No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.
Historical readings
- Middle Chinese
- sen · 蘇前 反切 · #575
- Middle Chinese
- senH · 蘇佃 反切 · #2692
Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.
Source row & reading categories
CSV line 4662 · sen = 山開四平先心 · senH = 山開四去先心
Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗
Sources & reference
Evidence & next depth
Retained Unihan properties
- kMandarin
- xiān
- kCantonese
- sin1
- kDefinition
- first, former, previous
- kTotalStrokes
- 6
- kRSUnicode
- 10.4
- kGradeLevel
- 1
- kTGH
- 2013:446
Readings across dictionaries
- Hanyu Da Zidian
- xiān 10267.020
- Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
- xiān 1244.070
- Tongyong Guifan · 2013
- xiān 397.040
- Reading counts · XDHYPLCD
- xiān(1962)
- Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
- xiàn粵sin1
Reference desk
- Fanqie spellings
- 蘇前 蘇佃
- Kangxi positions
- 0124.050
- Guangyun positions
- 132.01 406.29
- GSR references
- 0478a
- Cangjie
- HGHU
- Four-corner
- 2421.1