"First" • Chinese-English Dictionary

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 dì yī first / number one / primary
 shǒu xiān first (of all) / in the first place
 zuì chū first / primary / initial / original / at first / initially / originally
 yuán shǐ first / original / primitive / original (document etc)
 yī cì first / first time / once / (math.) linear (of degree one)
 shǒu cì first / first time / for the first time
 chǔ nu:3 virgin / maiden / maiden (voyage etc) / virgin (land) / (a novelist's) first (work)
 shǒu jiā first (hotel of its type, store of its type etc)
 chū cì for the first time / first (meeting, attempt etc)
 shàng ge first (of two parts) / last (week etc) / previous / the above
 qí yī one of the given (options etc) / the first / firstly
 tóu dào first time / first (round, course, coat of paint etc)
 zài xiān to come first / previous / prior / beforehand / first / formerly
 yī shì generation / period of 30 years / one's whole lifetime / lifelong / age / era / times / the whole world / the First (of numbered European kings)
 shǒu yè home page (of a website) / title page / front page / first page / fig. beginning / cover letter
 yuán lái original / former / originally / formerly / at first / so, actually, as it turns out
 yī shēng first tone in Mandarin (high, level tone)
 běn lái original / originally / at first / it goes without saying / of course
 yī jí first class / category A
 shā fā sofa (loanword) / CL:條|条[tiao2],張|张[zhang1] / (Internet slang) the first reply or replier to a forum post
 rù xué to enter a school or college / to go to school for the first time as a child
 fā qǐ to originate / to initiate / to launch (an attack, an initiative etc) / to start / to propose sth (for the first time)
 shàng bàn nián first half (of a year)
 shǒu jiè first session (of a conference etc)
 shǒu xuǎn first choice / premium / to come first in the imperial examinations
 Yī yuè January / first month (of the lunar year)
 dì yī shí jiān in the first moments (of sth happening) / immediately (after an event) / first thing
 shǒu fā first issue / first public showing
 dì yī bù step one / first step
 zhí xiá shì municipality, namely: Beijing 北京, Tianjin 天津, Shanghai 上海 / and Chongqing 重慶|重庆, the first level administrative subdivision / province level city / also called directly governed city
 chū liàn first love
 yī hào first day of the month / toilet / (slang) top (in a homosexual relationship)
 qiǎng xiān to rush (to do sth urgent) / to try to be the first / to forestall
 yī děng jiǎng first prize
 Huá shèng dùn Washington (name) / George Washington (1732-1799), first US president / Washington, US State / Washington, D.C. (US federal capital)
 dài tóu to take the lead / to be the first / to set an example
 mù dǔ to witness / to see at first hand / to see with one's own eyes
 yī lún first round or stage (of a match, election, talks, planned policy etc)
 kāi zhāng to open a business / first transaction of a business day
 jí jiù to give emergency treatment / first aid
 shǒu wèi first place
 chū yī first day of lunar month / New Year's Day / first year in junior middle school
 zuì xiān (the) very first
 zhōu suì one full year (e.g. on child's first birthday)
 tiān xià dì yī first under heaven / number one in the country
 shǒu chuàng to create / original creation / to be the first to do sth
 shǒu kuǎn to confess one's crime / first model, version, kind etc (of gadgets, software, cars etc)
 qǐ chū originally / at first / at the outset
 jié shí to get to know sb / to meet sb for the first time
 chū dào to make one's first public performance (of an entertainer etc) / to start one's career
 shǒu dù first time
 xiān dào first arrival / first return
 yī shěn first instance (law)
 dǐ céng ground or first floor / bottom (of a pile) / lowest rung (of society)
 qián duàn front part (of an object) / first part (of an event) / previous paragraph
 Zhēng yuè first month of the lunar year
 yī dà zǎo at dawn / at first light / first thing in the morning
 yī děng first class / grade A
 jiǎ fāng first party (law) / see also 乙方[yi3 fang1]
 tóu hào first rate / top rank / number one
 dì yī jì dù first quarter (of financial year)
 shè zú to set foot in / to step into / to become involved for the first time
 dì yī yǎn at first glance / at first sight
 yī jiàn zhōng qíng to fall in love at first sight (idiom)
 yuán nián first year of an emperor's reign / first year of an era / first year of a significant time period
 shì jiè dì yī ranked number one in the world / the world's first
 jīn jiǎng gold medal / first prize
 shàng tóu (of alcohol) to go to one's head / (old) (of a bride-to-be) to bind one's hair into a bun / (of a prostitute) to receive a patron for the first time
 shǒu lì first case / first instance
 shàng xún first third of a month
 dāng tóu coming right into one's face / imminent / to put first
 zhōng wèi lieutenant (navy) / first lieutenant (army) / subaltern
 chén xī first rays of morning sun / first glimmer of dawn
 dì yī lún first round (of match, or election)
 Yuán yuè first month (of either lunar or Western calendars)
 Sūn Zhōng shān Dr Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), first president of the Republic of China and co-founder of the Guomintang 國民黨|国民党 / same as 孫逸仙|孙逸仙
 shǒu lún first round (of a competition etc)
 dì yī dài first generation
 jiǎ jí first rate / top class / excellent
 yuán xiāo Lantern Festival / night of the 15th of the first lunar month / see also 元夜[yuan2 ye4] / sticky rice dumplings
 lǐng tóu to take the lead / to be first to start
 Shǐ jì Records of the Grand Historian, by 司馬遷|司马迁[Si1 ma3 Qian1], first of the 24 dynastic histories 二十四史[Er4 shi2 si4 Shi3]
 jiù hù to rescue / to administer first aid
 chū shì preliminary exam / qualifying exam / first try / preliminary testing
 Xiàng Yǔ Xiang Yu the Conqueror (232-202 BC), warlord defeated by first Han emperor
 hào qiáng eager to be first
 Zhū Yuán zhāng Zhu Yuanzhang, personal name of first Ming dynasty emperor Hongwu 洪武[Hong2 wu3]
 Yuán xiāo jié Lantern Festival, the final event of the Spring Festival 春節|春节, on 15th of first month of the lunar calendar
 xiān hé priority / sth advocated first / refers to ancient tradition: Worship the river first, then the sea.
 shǒu tuī to regard as the foremost / to name as a prime example / to implement for the first time
 Sòng Chǔ yú James Soong (1942-), Taiwanese politician expelled from Guomindang in 2000 when he founded People First Party 親民黨|亲民党
 qǐ xiān at first / in the beginning
 Xià wá Eve, the first woman (transcription used in Protestant versions of the Bible) (from Hebrew Ḥawwāh, probably via Cantonese 夏娃 / {Haa6waa1})
 chǔ nu:3 zuò first publication / maiden work
 pò tiān huāng unprecedented / for the first time / never before / first ever
 bù kān yī jī to be unable to withstand a single blow / to collapse at the first blow
 chū yè early evening / wedding night / (fig.) first sexual encounter
 kāi jià to quote a price / seller's first offer
 zhēng xiān kǒng hòu striving to be first and fearing to be last (idiom) / outdoing one another
 Shén nóng Shennong or Farmer God (c. 2000 BC), first of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yan2 di4] and creator of agriculture
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