先是 xiānshì at first Origin Definitions Defs Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents xiānshì at first · former 先 xiān adverb first earlier in time or sequence; beforehand; in advance是 shì verb to be to be; to correspond to; connects a subject to its identification, characterization, or identityxiānshì before this 先 xiān adverb first earlier in time or sequence; beforehand; in advance是 shì conjunction this (literary) this; that; such; used as a demonstrative to refer back to what was just mentioned