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首选 (shǒu xuǎn) — first choice; preferred option; (in politics) primary election

Definition

首选 (shǒuxuǎn) means 'first choice / preferred option' — the option a person or group would pick above all others. In politics it also refers to a 'primary' election.

noun
first choicepreferred option(in politics) primary election

Examples

  • 首选。
    Tā shì wǒ xīn zhōng de shǒu xuǎn.
    He is my first choice in my heart.
  • 首选。
    Zhè cì xuǎn jǔ de shǒu xuǎn jié guǒ jí jiāng gōng bù.
    The primary election results will be announced soon.
  • 首选。
    Zhè kuǎn shǒu jī shì hěn duō xiāo fèi zhě de shǒu xuǎn.
    This phone is the first choice of many consumers.

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shǒufirst
选xuǎnchoice

首 means first and 选 means choice, giving the sense of the preferred option.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 選; 选 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巽
巽xùn選xuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 選 combines 止 with 巽, which gives the sound xùn; its sense of choosing is explained as rejecting or sending someone back. Simplified 选 is a shorthand.

Open 选 →
Appears in
Abstract ConceptsGood & Bad

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