首

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Han character

See images of
Radical 185 首

首 (Kangxi radical 185, 首+0, 9 strokes, cangjie input 廿竹月山 (THBU), four-corner 8060₁, composition ⿱丷𦣻 or ⿱䒑自)

1. Kangxi radical #185, ⾸.

Derived characters

• Appendix:Chinese radical/首
• 𠃺, 𫮐, 𡞝, 𭛼, 𢰢, 渞, 𤠁, 道, 𪳂, 𣮹, 𫤞, 𪼼, 艏, 𫋎, 𨍣, 𨲛, 𮫤, 𮬅, 𠡼, 𬱯, 𩯢, 𪬐, 𩠮, 𩠰, 𭐱, 衜, 𭩍, 𬞪

Further reading

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1427, character 32
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 44489
• Dae Jaweon: page 1953, character 27
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4500, character 1
• Unihan data for U+9996

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 首
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Simplified from 𩠐 (巛 → 丷). Originally pictographic (象形) 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.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-lu; 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”).

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

首

1. (archaic, anatomy) head

   Synonym: 頭／头

   • 愛而不見，搔首踟躕。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     爱而不见，搔首踟蹰。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Ài ér bù jiàn, sāo shǒu chíchú.

     Loving and not seeing her, I scratch my head, and am in perplexity.

2. chief; leader
3. start; beginning
4. first; best; highest
5. prime; prior; primary
6. side; direction
7. Classifier for songs and poems. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

Synonyms

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

首

1. ^† to report someone to the authorities; to plead guilty

   自首  ―  zìshǒu  ―  to turn oneself in; to give up; to surrender

2. ^† to face (a direction)

Compounds

References

• “首”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. neck
2. counter for songs and poems
3. beginning, first

Readings

• Go-on: しゅ (shu, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: しゅう (shū)
• Kun: くび (kubi, 首, Jōyō); おびと (obito, 首); こうべ (kōbe, 首); しるし (shirushi, 首); つかさ (tsukasa, 首); かしら (kashira, 首); はじめ (hajime, 首め); もうす (mōsu, 首す)
• Nanori: おびと (obito); こべ (kobe); す (su)

Compounds

• 機(き)首(しゅ) (kishu)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

首

Wikipedia ^ja

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *kunpi.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) くび (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

首(くび) • (kubi) 

1. neck (part of the body connecting head and torso)
2. the neck and head as a whole

   Synonym: (as a trophy) 首級 (shukyū)

   首(くび)無(な)し

   kubinashi

   headless

   首(くび)を刎(は)ねる

   kubiohaneru

   to behead

3. dismissal from employment

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese. First cited to the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.

Shift from Old Japanese 大人 (opobito, “boss, chief”, literally “big person”).

/opobito/ → /obito/

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

首(おびと) • (obito) 

1. (archaic) one who rules or commands a group of people: a chief

See also

• Appendix:Gikun_Usage_in_Meiji_Version_of_Japanese_Bible/首

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese. First cited to the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.

Analyzed as a shift from earlier kamipe, as a compound of either 上 (kami, “upper”) or 髪 (kami, “hair”) with the suffix 方 (he, “location”).

/kamipe/ → /kampe/ → /kaube/ → /kɔːbe/ → /koːbe/

Noun

首(こうべ) • (kōbe) ^{←かうべ (kaube)?}

1. Alternative spelling of 頭 (“head”) (part of the body)
   • 2021 September 10, Eve (lyrics and music), “遊生夢死 [Live Playing, Die Dreaming]”:

     遊(ゆう)生(せい)夢(ぼう)死(し)
     才能ない脳内 唱えよシスターズ
     首(こうべ)を垂れることしかないの

     Yūsei bōshi
     Sainō nai nōnai tonaeyo shisutāzu
     Kōbe o tareru koto shika nai no

     Live playing, die dreaming
     Chant inside my talentless brain, sisters
     All I can do is bow down

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese 首 (MC syuwX|syuwH).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Counter

首(しゅ) • (-shu) 

1. poems and songs

Noun

首(しゅ) • (shu) 

1. (rare) the first one; a lord

See also

• 頭

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 首 (MC syuwX). Recorded as Middle Korean 슈〮 (syú) (Yale: syu) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

首

Wikisource

首 (eumhun 머리 수 (meori su))

1. Hanja form^? of 수 (“head”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

首: Hán Nôm readings: thủ, thú

1. chữ Hán form of thủ (“head”).
2. chữ Hán form of thú (“confess”).

Compounds