首位 (shǒu wèi) — first place (in a competition or ranking); place of honor (seating or status)

Definition

首位 means 'the first place / top position' in a ranking, competition, or field — used for both people and domains (e.g. industry, research). It emphasizes being at the top of a sequence rather than physical seating.

noun
first place (in a competition or ranking)place of honor (seating or status)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 首位。
    Tā zài zhè chǎng bǐ sài lǐ huò dé le shǒu wèi.
    He obtained first place in this competition.
  • ，首位。
    Yàn huì shàng, guì bīn bèi ān pái zuò zài shǒu wèi.
    At the banquet, the honored guest was seated in the place of honor.
  • 首位。
    Tā zài háng yè yán jiū lǐng yù wěn jū shǒu wèi.
    She firmly holds the top position in industry research.

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
位wèiposition

首位 joins first with position, naming first place or place of honor.

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì位wèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.

Open 位 →

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