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先生

xiān shengdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
teacher / gentleman / sir / mister (Mr.) / husband / (dialect) doctor / CL:位[wèi]
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-16f24abb95a10c22. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

先生 先生 [xian1 sheng5] /teacher/gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.)/husband/(dialect) doctor/CL:位[wei4]/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 先
    xiān

    beforehand / first / earlier / at first / originally / for the time being / for now / (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself)

  • 生
    shēng

    to grow / to give birth / to produce / to be born / to arise / to occur / to light (a fire) / to live / to be alive / life / raw / uncooked / unprocessed / unfamiliar / strange / (bound form) student / person engaged in a field / (bound form) male role in traditional opera / (bound form) life / lifetime / (bound form) means of livelihood / (bound form) very / intensely (as in 生疼[shēng téng]) / (bound form) in a forced manner (as in 生拉硬拽[shēng lā yìng zhuài])

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.