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Kanji Detail for 首 - "neck, head, leader"

首

  • Meaning

    首 means "neck, head, leader."

    1. Neck - The part connecting head and body.

    2. Head - The top part; the leader.

    3. Leader - The chief; the one in charge.

    4. First - The beginning; the start.

  • Words using 首

    • 首相 しゅしょう Listen prime minister; chancellor (Germany, Austria, etc.); premier
    • 首脳 しゅのう Listen head; leader; top
    • 党首 とうしゅ Listen party leader
    • 首都 しゅと Listen (national) capital (city); metropolis
    • 首位 しゅい Listen first place; head position; leading position
    • 首都圏 しゅとけん Listen Greater Tokyo Metropolitan area; metropolitan area (of a capital)
    • 一首 いっしゅ Listen one tanka; one poem
    • 元首 げんしゅ Listen sovereign; ruler; head of state

  • Four-character idioms with 首

    • 思案投首 しあんなげくび Listen being at one's wit's end; being (quite) at a loss (what to do)
    • 閉口頓首 へいこうとんしゅ Listen being at a complete loss as to what to do; being at one's wit's end; being at a loss for an answer
    • 頓首再拝 とんしゅさいはい Listen respectfully yours
    • 首尾一貫 しゅびいっかん Listen consistent; unchanging from beginning to end
    • 首尾貫徹 しゅびかんてつ Listen (logical) consistency; coherence; unchanging from beginning to end
    • 首鼠両端 しゅそりょうたん Listen being unable to make up one's mind; sitting on the fence

  • Origin of 首

    A pictograph of a head with the hair still on it — eye visible, locks above. It came to mean the neck that carries it, and the chief who is the head of the rest.

    How to remember it: A head with flowing hair, drawn whole — the neck's cargo, and the leader of the body.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 首

    • Verified meaning: neck, head, leader
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read おびと)

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 首

    Surnames 首(おびと)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    neck; counter for songs and poems

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    head; first; leader, chief; a poem; Kangxi radical 185

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    head; chief; first (occasion, thing etc); classifier for poems, songs etc

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    chief, head, leader

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    The head. As in ancient ritual terms like 稽首 (kowtowing), 頓首 (bowing). Also, the common people were called 黔首. Referring to young and vigorous people with black hair who can serve the state. | A ruler. Found in the "Guangya." The head of state or monarch is called 元首. | A leader. As in calling a person who leads 首領 (chief). The first person is called 首. As in the first person to earn merit is called 首功. The wealthiest family is called 首富. And so on. | The foremost. As in calling the capital 首善之區. Meaning the first to set trends. | A section or piece. One poem or essay is called 一首. | Confessing one's own crime and reporting others' crimes is called 首. As in 出首 (report a crime), 自首 (turn oneself in).

  • Onyomi

    tip

    shu(シュ) シュ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    kubi(くび) くび

  • Strokes

    tip

    9 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    首 (kubi)

  • Related Keywords

    neck head leader confession direction dismissal first chief top beginning foremost principal nape cervical counting poems

Sentences including 首

  • He is at the head of the class.

  • The capital of japan is tokyo.

  • He shall be fired.

  • Bill was canned from his job last week.

  • Tom lost his job.

  • Tell me the reason why he was fired.

  • She has always been at the head of her class.

  • I think i'll go in for tennis.

  • The boy passed the examination with success.

  • He remained at the top of the class at school.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

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