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首席 (shǒu xí) — (adjective) chief, leading (used in official titles); (noun) chief officer, leader (of a team or organization)

Definition

首席 is a formal title prefix meaning 'chief / principal' — used in fixed role names like 首席科学家 or 首席指挥. Unlike 长 or 头 it is not used as a standalone word for 'leader'; it always pairs with a role.

adjective
chiefleading (used in official titles)
noun
chief officerleader (of a team or organization)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 首席。
    Tā zuì jìn bèi rèn mìng wèi gōng sī de shǒu xí yùn yíng guān.
    He was recently appointed as the company's chief operating officer.
  • 首席。
    Zhè wèi shǒu xí kē xué jiā zài rén gōng zhì néng lǐng yù hěn yǒu míng.
    This chief scientist is very famous in the field of artificial intelligence.
  • 首席。
    Tā shì wǒ men yuè tuán de shǒu xí zhǐ huī.
    She is the principal conductor of our orchestra.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

首shǒuchief
席xíseat

首 means first or chief and 席 means seat, so it names the chief seat.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape comes from an old drawing of an animal's head, showing a long mouth and horns; the version with hair became 首.

Open 首 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

席 originally showed a woven mat with an ornament. In 席, the mat became 巾, and a later sound part was written as 庶.

Open 席 →
Appears in
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