首任 (shǒu rèn) — first person to hold a position; inaugural officeholder

Definition

Used only in formal/written Chinese to label the very first person to hold an office (often right before a title like 总统, 主席). It modifies the title; it is not a stand-alone way to say 'first president' in conversation.

noun
first person to hold a positioninaugural officeholder
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 首任。
    Tā shì gāi guó de shǒu rèn zǒng tǒng.
    He is the country's first president.
  • 首任。
    shǒu rèn Zhǔ xí zài rèn qī jiān zuò le hěn duō gǎi gé.
    The first chairman made many reforms during his term.
  • 首任。
    Gōng sī rèn mìng le shǒu rèn shǒu xí zhí xíng guān.
    The company appointed its first CEO.

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
任rènoffice

首 means first and 任 means an office or appointment, naming the first holder of a post.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
壬
壬rén任rèn
Same sound today

任 pairs 亻, a person, with 壬, which may picture a shoulder pole turned sideways.

Open 任 →

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