首相 (shǒu xiàng) — prime minister | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

prime minister

Measure word · 位

首相。
Zhè wèi shǒu xiàng jí jiāng fǎng wèn zhōng guó.
This prime minister is about to visit China.
首相。
shǒu xiàng Zài huì yì shàng fā biǎo le zhòng yào jiǎng huà.
The prime minister delivered an important speech at the meeting.
首相，。
Xīn shǒu xiàng shàng rèn hòu, tí chū le yí xì liè gǎi gé cuò shī.
After the new prime minister took office, he proposed a series of reform measures.

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shǒuhead/chief

首 gives head or chief, and 相 gives minister, together naming the chief minister.

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.

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

木目相

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

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