qián

front

forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly

cutting edge (丷一) + severed foot (刖) = who goes first, out front

刖 depicts punishment by foot amputation — to move forward, one must literally be in front. 丷 and 一 together suggest a blade or cutting edge, reinforcing the severing imagery that historically grounds this character's sense of leading position.

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OneSemantic
Two strokes suggesting a splitSemantic
Punishment of cutting off the footSemantic

他站在队伍的面。

tā zhàn zài duì wu de qián miàn。

He is standing at the front of the line.

我三天就把作业交了。

wǒ sān tiān qián jiù bǎ zuò yè jiāo le。

I already handed in my homework three days ago.

Words with 前

在这之前

zài zhè zhī qián

before then

逡巡不前

qūn xún bù qián

to hesitate to move forward

鄂托克前旗

è tuō kè qián qí

Otog Front banner or Otgiin Ömnöd khoshuu in Ordos 鄂爾多斯|鄂尔多斯[E4 er3 duo1 si1], Inner Mongolia

丑话说在前头

chǒu huà shuō zài qián tou

let's talk about the unpleasant things first; let's be frank

锦绣前程

jǐn xiù qián chéng

bright future

长江后浪催前浪

cháng jiāng hòu làng cuī qián làng

see 長江後浪推前浪|长江后浪推前浪[Chang2 Jiang1 hou4 lang4 tui1 qian2 lang4]

长江后浪推前浪

cháng jiāng hòu làng tuī qián làng

lit. the rear waves of the Yangtze River drive on those before (idiom)

门前

mén qián

in front of the door

关公面前耍大刀

guān gōng miàn qián shuǎ dà dāo

lit. to wield the broadsword in the presence of Lord Guan (idiom)

双后前兵开局

shuāng hòu qián bīng kāi jú

same as 封閉性開局|封闭性开局

头向前

tóu xiàng qián

headlong

餐前酒

cān qián jiǔ

aperitif

More characters with 丷