先 xiān
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 儿 — son, child
- Made of
- 𠂒 small 儿 son, child
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
先例
xiānlì
precedent
Characters in this word
例 lì
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 亻 — man, person
- Made of
- 亻 man, person 列 a line
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 法院的这一判决可能成为今后类似案件的重要先例。 Fǎyuàn de zhè yī pànjué kěnéng chéngwéi jīnhòu lèisì ànjiàn de zhòngyào xiānlì. This court judgement may become an important precedent for similar cases in the future.
- 这种做法没有先例，大家都不太敢尝试。 Zhè zhǒng zuòfǎ méiyǒu xiānlì, dàjiā dōu bú tài gǎn chángshì. This approach has no precedent, so everyone is rather afraid to try it.
- 为照顾他，公司开了先例，提前给他放假。 Wèi zhàogù tā, gōngsī kāi le xiānlì, tíqián gěi tā fàngjià. To accommodate him, the company set a precedent by letting him take his holiday early.
Related words
- 先 xiān first, before
- 先生 xiānsheng Mr., sir; gentleman
- 领先 lǐngxiān to lead; to be ahead
- 首先 shǒuxiān first; first of all
- 先进 xiānjìn advanced
- 事先 shìxiān in advance
- 率先 shuàixiān to be the first
- 先后 xiānhòu one after another
- 先前 xiānqián before; earlier
- 优先 yōuxiān priority; first
- 原先 yuánxiān formerly; originally
- 祖先 zǔxiān ancestors