先 (sin1)

This week’s character is 先 (sin1) which means “first”. The origins of the 先 (sin1) character is actually quite involved!

The top part comes from 㞢, an ancient form of 之 (zi1). 之 (zi1) has many meanings, but one of them is “to go”, which can be seen in its two components:

• the character 止 (zi2) for “foot”; and

• the character 一 (jat1) for “one”, which marks the starting place of the journey.

The bottom part comes from 儿 (jan4), the radical form of 人 (jan4), which means “person”.

Put these three parts together, and you can see that the character 先 (sin1) represents the person who takes the first step!