一流

いちりゅう · ichiryuu · JLPT N2 · na-adj

first class

🥇 一流 = one + stream: the number-one current, top of the flow

一 means one or first, and 流 means flow, stream, or school of practice. A 一流 artist or company is in the first rank of its field. Ichi is the Japanese word for one, so ichiryuu literally starts with number one.

一 — single horizontal stroke
一 is one of the simplest pictographs in Chinese, depicting a single horizontal line to represent the number one. It has retained essentially the same form since oracle bone script over 3,000 years ago. By extension it also means 'first,' 'whole,' or 'same.'

流 — water radical 氵 + 㐬 (phonetic, child being born)
流 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning, while 㐬 depicts an infant being born head-down with amniotic fluid, suggesting downward flow. Together they convey water flowing, and by extension 'to flow' or 'current'.

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