About
Originating from an early ideographic composition representing a person with a foot, the character "先" conceptually conveyed movement forward or positional front. Its contemporary structure consists of the component "牛" above "儿", forms which historically derive from graphical representations of a foot and a person respectively. The meaning evolved from the concrete act of advancing or leading to abstract notions of temporal and sequential precedence, resulting in its later uses to indicate "before", "earlier", "first", or "ancestor" within various contexts.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我先去吃饭。
你可以先走。
王先生来了。
我们先到里面去。
你先洗手，再吃饭。
在开会之前，我们先讨论一下。
如果你先完成作业，就可以看电视。
在考虑长期投资之前，必须先了解市场风险。