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起先

Mandarin · pinyin qǐ xiān

at first; in the beginning

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Characters in this entry

起: qǐ · rise, stand up; go up; begin
先: xiān · first, former, previous

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–1 · qi3 xian1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hei2 sin1

Cantonese word readings for 起先. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

adv

initially; from the outset; at first

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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