元首

Chinese

		primary; first; fundamental primary; first; fundamental; dollar; (dynasty)	head; chief; first (occasion) head; chief; first (occasion); first (thing); measure word for poems
simp. and trad. (元首)		元	首

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yuánshǒu

  (Zhuyin): ㄩㄢˊ ㄕㄡˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyun⁴ sau²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ngièn-sú / ngiàn-sú
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): goân-siú

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yuánshǒu
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄢˊ ㄕㄡˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yuánshǒu
    • Wade–Giles: yüan²-shou³
    • Yale: ywán-shǒu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuanshoou
    • Palladius: юаньшоу (juanʹšou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɥɛn³⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyun⁴ sau²
    • Yale: yùhn sáu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyn⁴ sau²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yun⁴ seo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːn²¹ sɐu̯³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngièn-sú
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngienˇ su`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngian<sup>2</sup> su<sup>3</sup>
    • Sinological IPA: /ŋi̯en¹¹ su³¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngiàn-sú
    • Hakka Romanization System: ngianˇ su`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngian² su³
    • Sinological IPA: /ŋi̯an¹¹ su³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: goân-siú
    • Tâi-lô: guân-siú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: goansiuo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ɡuan²⁴⁻²² siu⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ɡuan²⁴⁻²² siu⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɡuan¹³⁻²² siu⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡuan²⁴⁻¹¹ siu⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡuan²³⁻³³ siu⁴¹/

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 元首

1. head of state
2. monarch; sovereign; king; ruler
3. beginning
4. (literary, literally) head

Synonyms

• (head of state): 國家元首／国家元首 (guójiā yuánshǒu), 政府首腦／政府首脑 (zhèngfǔ shǒunǎo)
• (monarch):

(deprecated template usage)

• 乘輿／乘舆 (literary, figurative)
• 人主 (rénzhǔ) (literary)
• 人君 (rénjūn) (literary)
• 人王 (rénwáng)
• 君上 (jūnshàng) (literary)
• 君主 (jūnzhǔ)
• 君父 (jūnfù) (literary)
• 君王 (jūnwáng)
• 國君／国君 (guójūn)
• 國家／国家 (guójiā) (Classical Chinese)
• 大聖／大圣 (dàshèng) (literary)
• 大駕／大驾 (dàjià)
• 天子 (tiānzǐ) (Son of Heaven)
• 官家 (guānjiā) (archaic)
• 帝王 (dìwáng)
• 皇帝 (huángdì)
• 皇辟 (huángbì) (archaic, Son of Heaven)

 

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
元	首
げん Grade: 2	しゅ Grade: 2
on’yomi

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Chinese compound 元首 (ngjwon syuw^X, literally “first, prime + head”).

Noun

元(げん)首(しゅ) • (genshu) 

1. head of state (the chief public representative of a nation), ruler, sovereign

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 元首政(げんしゅせい) (genshusei): the principate, a type of government in ancient Rome, established under Augustus Caesar

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
元	首
もと Grade: 2	くび Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Compound of 元 (moto, “origin, base”) +‎ 首 (kubi, “neck, head”).

Noun

元(もと)首(くび) • (motokubi) 

1. (rare) the base of the neck
2. (rare) (by extension upwards) the head

Usage notes

The kun'yomi reading of motokubi is rare for this term.