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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

首

shǒu
head
  • pictogram
  • HSK 6
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 首
  • 9 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
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Origin

Simplified from 𩠐 (巛 → 丷). Originally pictogram (象形) of the head of an animal with a long mouth and horns. In the oracle bone script, it appeared with or without hair (巛), but 𩠐, the form with hair, was the form that was perpetuated.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *qV-luʔ; cognate with Mizo lu (“head”). This word has also been compared with Proto-Austronesian *quluh (“head”) (Malay hulu) and Proto-Tai *klawꟲ ~ krawꟲ (“head; hair knot”) (Thai เกล้า (glâao, “hair; head”)), and was used by Sagart to support his Sino-Austronesian hypothesis. Compare 道 (OC *l'uːʔ, “path, road”) (with the same phonetic component) and its relationship with Proto-Hmong-Mien *kləuX (“road, way”).

This word was replaced by 頭 (OC *doː, “head”) by the Warring States period, possibly due to early homophony with 手 (OC *hnjɯwʔ, “hand”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese丷 “Component variant of 八.”
  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*qV-luʔ
  • simplified fromChinese𩠐
  • partChinese一 “one”
  • partChinese丶 “An ancient punctuation mark.”
  • partChinese目 “eye (Classifier: 雙／双 mn-t)”

Related: Mizo lu, Proto-Austronesian *qulu, Malay hulu, Proto-Tai *krawꟲ, Thai เกล้า, Proto-Hmong-Mien *kləuˣ

Words built on it: 道, 頁, 首先, 首都

Meanings

character
  1. head
  2. chief; leader
  3. start; beginning
  4. first; best; highest
  5. prime; prior; primary
  6. side; direction

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

首：𦣻同。古文𦣻也。巛象髪，謂之鬊，鬊卽巛也。凡𩠐之屬皆从𩠐。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 頭、腦袋。 例：叩首、昂首闊步、搔首弄姿
  2. 領袖、帶頭的人。 例：元首、罪魁禍首、群龍無首
  3. 開頭部分。 例：歲首、篇首
  4. 最先的、第一的。 例：首次、首富、首席代表
  5. 出頭。 例：自首
  6. 量詞。計算詩、詞、歌曲等的單位。 例：兩首歌、一首小詩

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 首 was written 字形演變

  1. 首 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 首 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 首 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 首 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 首 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 首 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 首