jǐn​xiān

priority

jǐn, jìn utmost Simplified

Simplified form of . Depicts a hand () using a brush to scrub dishes () clean after one is finished eating. The simplified character was derived from the cursive form of .

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

xiān first

Depicts a person () stepping forward () leading the way.

Components

Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot stepping forward.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
rén, ren person
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 11 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsensˤər first
senHsˤər-s go first

說文解字

《說文》:“先,前進也。从儿,从之。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

utmost Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

Sound component
jǐn, jìn finish, exhaust

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode