首

首 (Kangxi radical 185, 首+0, 9 strokes, cangjie input 廿竹月山 (THBU), four-corner 8060₁, composition ⿱丷𦣻 or ⿱䒑自)

1. Kangxi radical #185, ⾸.

• Appendix:Chinese radical/首
• 𠃺, 𫮐, 𡞝, 𭛼, 𢰢, 渞, 𤠁, 道, 𪳂, 𣮹, 𫤞, 𪼼, 艏, 𫋎, 𨍣, 𨲛, 𮫤, 𮬅, 𠡼, 𬱯, 𩯢, 𪬐, 𩠮, 𩠰, 𭐱, 衜, 𭩍, 𬞪

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1427, character 32
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 44489
• Dae Jaweon: page 1953, character 27
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 7, page 4500, character 1
• Unihan data for U+9996

Historical forms of the character 首
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Simplified from 𩠐 (巛 → 丷). Originally pictographic (象形) of an animal with a long mouth and horns. In the oracle bone script, it appeared with or without hair (巛), but 𩠐, the form with hair, was the form that was perpetuated.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-lu; cognate with Mizo lu (“head”). This word has also been compared with Proto-Austronesian *quluh (“head”) (Malay hulu) and Proto-Tai *klawꟲ ~ krawꟲ (“head; hair knot”) (Thai เกล้า (glâao, “hair; head”)), and was used by Sagart to support his Sino-Austronesian hypothesis. Compare 道 (OC *l'uːʔ, “path, road”) (with the same phonetic component) and its relationship with Proto-Hmong-Mien *kləuX (“road, way”).

This word was replaced by 頭 (OC *doː, “head”) by the Warring States period, possibly due to early homophony with 手 (OC *hnjɯwʔ, “hand”).

首

1. (archaic, anatomy) head

   Synonym: 頭／头

   • 愛而不見，搔首踟躕。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     爱而不见，搔首踟蹰。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Ài ér bù jiàn, sāo shǒu chíchú. [Pinyin]

     Loving and not seeing her, I scratch my head, and am in perplexity.

2. chief; leader
3. start; beginning
4. first; best; highest
5. prime; prior; primary
6. side; direction
7. Classifier for songs and poems. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

首

1. ^† to report someone to the authorities; to plead guilty

   自首  ―  zìshǒu  ―  to turn oneself in; to give up; to surrender

2. ^† to face (a direction)

• “首”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. neck
2. counter for songs and poems
3. beginning, first

• Go-on: しゅ (shu, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: しゅう (shū)
• Kun: くび (kubi, 首, Jōyō); おびと (obito, 首); こうべ (kōbe, 首); しるし (shirushi, 首); つかさ (tsukasa, 首); かしら (kashira, 首); はじめ (hajime, 首め); もうす (mōsu, 首す)
• Nanori: おびと (obito); こべ (kobe); す (su)

• 機(き)首(しゅ) (kishu)

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *kunpi.

• (Tokyo) くび [kùbí] (Heiban – [0])[1]
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝbʲi]

首(くび) • (kubi) 

1. neck (part of the body connecting head and torso)
2. the neck and head as a whole

   Synonym: (as a trophy) 首級 (shukyū)

   首(くび)無(な)し

   kubinashi

   headless

   首(くび)を刎(は)ねる

   kubiohaneru

   to behead

3. dismissal from employment

From Old Japanese. First cited to the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.[2]

Shift from Old Japanese 大人 (opobito, “boss, chief”, literally “big person”).[2][3]

/opobito/ → /obito/

• IPA^(key): [o̞bʲito̞]

首(おびと) • (obito) 

1. (archaic) one who rules or commands a group of people: a chief

• Appendix:Gikun_Usage_in_Meiji_Version_of_Japanese_Bible/首

From Old Japanese. First cited to the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.[2]

Analyzed as a shift from earlier kamipe, as a compound of either 上 (kami, “upper”) or 髪 (kami, “hair”) with the suffix 方 (he, “location”).[2][3]

/kamipe/ → /kampe/ → /kaube/ → /kɔːbe/ → /koːbe/

首(こうべ) • (kōbe) ^{←かうべ (kaube)?}

1. Alternative spelling of 頭 (“head”) (part of the body)
   • 2021 September 10, Eve (lyrics and music), “遊生夢死 [Live Playing, Die Dreaming]”:

     遊(ゆう)生(せい)夢(ぼう)死(し)
     才能ない脳内 唱えよシスターズ
     首(こうべ)を垂れることしかないの

     Yūsei bōshi
     Sainō nai nōnai tonaeyo shisutāzu
     Kōbe o tareru koto shika nai no

     Live playing, die dreaming
     Chant inside my talentless brain, sisters
     All I can do is bow down

From Middle Chinese 首 (MC syuwX|syuwH).

• IPA^(key): [ɕɨᵝ]

首(しゅ) • (-shu) 

1. poems and songs

首(しゅ) • (shu) 

1. (rare) the first one; a lord

• 頭

From Middle Chinese 首 (MC syuwX). Recorded as Middle Korean 슈〮 (syú) (Yale: syu) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Wikisource 首 (eumhun 머리 수 (meori su))

1. Hanja form^? of 수 (“head”).

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

首: Hán Nôm readings: thủ, thú

1. chữ Hán form of thủ (“head”).
2. chữ Hán form of thú (“confess”).