首航 (shǒu háng) — maiden voyage; maiden flight | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

首航 means a ship's or aircraft's very first voyage or flight on a new route. Refers to the inaugural journey itself, not a routine trip.

noun

maiden voyagemaiden flight

Examples

首航。
Zhè sōu chuán míng tiān jiāng jìn xíng shǒu háng.
This ship will make its maiden voyage tomorrow.
首航。
Xīn háng xiàn de shǒu háng fēi cháng chéng gōng.
The maiden flight of the new route was very successful.
首航。
shǒu háng De chéng kè dōu shōu dào le jì niàn pǐn.
All passengers on the maiden voyage received souvenirs.

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 gives first, and 航 gives a voyage or flight.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

舟亢航

Meaning part形符xíngfú

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

亢

亢kàng航háng

Same sound today

航 shows a boat with 舟, and 亢 gives the character its sound.

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