领先 (lǐng xiān) — to lead, to be ahead (in a competition, score,…

Definition

领先 means 'to be ahead / to lead' in a race, score, or competition. Unlike 领导, it focuses on being in front, not on guiding people.

verb

to leadto be ahead (in a competition, score, technology, etc.)

领先。
Shàng bàn chǎng wǒ men duì lǐng xiān liǎng fēn.
Our team is leading by two points in the first half.
领先。
Zhè jiā gōng sī zài rén gōng zhì néng fāng miàn lǐng xiān shì jiè.
This company leads the world in artificial intelligence.
，领先。
Tā pǎo dé hěn kuài, yì zhí lǐng xiān dào zhōng diǎn.
He runs very fast and stays ahead all the way to the finish line.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

领 means lead and 先 means ahead, so 领先 is to lead ahead.

Characters in this word

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 領; 领 is its simplified writing.

令頁領

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yè

Sound part声符shēngfú

令

Same sound today

The traditional form 領 has 令 as a sound part and 頁 as a meaning part; the simplified 领 is a later shorthand.

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

先 combines 止 (foot) and 儿 (person) to show someone moving forward.

Appears in