| 初 | [ chū ] at first, (at the) beginning, first, junior, basic |
| 初一 | [ chū yī ] first day of lunar month, New Year's Day, first year in junior middle school |
| 初三 | [ chū sān ] third year in junior middle school |
| 初中 | [ chū zhōng ] junior high school, abbr. for 初級中學|初级中学[chu1 ji2 zhong1 xue2] |
| 初中生 | [ chū zhōng shēng ] junior high student |
| 初二 | [ chū èr ] 2nd year in junior middle school, 2nd day of a lunar month, 2nd day of lunar New Year |
| 初伏 | [ chū fú ] middle ten days of July, the first of 三伏 sān fú, three hottest periods of the year |
| 初估 | [ chū gū ] to make a preliminary estimate |
| 初來乍到 | [ chū laí zhà daò ] to be a newcomer, just off the boat |
| 初冬 | [ chū dōng ] early winter |
| 初出茅廬 | [ chū chū maó lú ] venturing from one's thatched hut for the first time (idiom), young and inexperienced, novice, greenhorn |
| 初刻拍案驚奇 | [ chū kè paī àn jīng qí ] Slapping the Table in Amazement (Part I), first of two books of vernacular stories by Ming dynasty novelist Ling Mengchu 凌濛初|凌蒙初[Ling2 Meng2 chu1] |
| 初創 | [ chū chuàng ] startup (company, phase etc), newly established, in the early stages |
| 初創公司 | [ chū chuàng gōng sī ] new company, newly established enterprise |
| 初升 | [ chū shēng ] rising (sun, moon etc) |
| 初唐四傑 | [ chū táng sì jié ] the Four Great Poets of the Early Tang, namely Wang Bo 王勃[Wang2 Bo2], Yang Jiong 楊炯|杨炯[Yang2 Jiong3], Lu Zhaolin 盧照鄰|卢照邻[Lu2 Zhao4 lin2], and Luo Binwang 駱賓王|骆宾王[Luo4 Bin1 wang2] |
| 初夏 | [ chū xià ] early summer |
| 初夜 | [ chū yè ] early evening, wedding night, (fig.) first sexual encounter |
| 初始 | [ chū shǐ ] initial, starting (point) |
| 初始化 | [ chū shǐ huà ] (computing) to initialize, initialization |
| 初學者 | [ chū xué zhě ] beginning student |
| 初審 | [ chū shěn ] preliminary trial |
| 初小 | [ chū ] lower elementary school (abbr. for 初級小學|初级小学[chu1 ji2 xiao3 xue2]) |
| 初年 | [ chū nián ] early years |
| 初心 | [ chū xīn ] (one's) original intention, aspiration etc, (Buddhism) "beginner's mind" (i.e. having an attitude of openness when studying a subject just as a beginner in that subject would) |
| 初戀 | [ chū liàn ] first love |
| 初戀感覺 | [ chū liàn gǎn jué ] feelings of first love |
| 初探 | [ chū tàn ] to conduct an exploratory foray into (an area of study, a market etc), a preliminary study |
| 初文 | [ chū wén ] archaic (and simpler) form of a Chinese character |
| 初更 | [ chū gēng ] first of the five night watch periods 19:00-21:00 (old) |
| 初期 | [ chū qī ] initial stage, beginning period |
| 初次 | [ chū cì ] for the first time, first (meeting, attempt etc) |
| 初步 | [ chū bù ] initial, preliminary, tentative |
| 初步設想 | [ chū bù shè xiǎng ] tentative idea |
| 初潮 | [ chū chaó ] menarche |
| 初犯 | [ chū fàn ] first offender, first offense |
| 初生 | [ chū shēng ] newborn, nascent, primary (biology) |
| 初生之犢不怕虎 | [ chū shēng zhī dú bù pà hǔ ] see 初生之犢不畏虎|初生之犊不畏虎[chu1 sheng1 zhi1 du2 bu4 wei4 hu3] |
| 初生之犢不畏虎 | [ chū shēng zhī dú bù weì hǔ ] lit. a new-born calf has no fear of the tiger (idiom), fig. the fearlessness of youth |
| 初生牛犢不怕虎 | [ chū shēng niú dú bù pà hǔ ] lit. newborn calves do not fear tigers (idiom), fig. the young are fearless |
| 初秋 | [ chū qiū ] early autumn, 7th month of the lunar calendar |
| 初稿 | [ chū gaǒ ] first draft (of writing) |
| 初等 | [ chū děng ] elementary (i.e. easy) |
| 初等代數 | [ chū děng daì shù ] elementary algebra |
| 初等教育 | [ chū děng yù ] primary education, junior school education |
| 初級 | [ chū jí ] junior, primary |
| 初級中學 | [ chū jí zhōng xué ] junior high school, junior middle school |
| 初級小學 | [ chū jí xué ] lower elementary school (abbr. to 初小[chu1 xiao3]) |
| 初聲 | [ chū shēng ] the initial consonant (or doubled consonant) of a Korean syllable |
| 初葉 | [ chū yè ] early part (of a decade, century etc), the first years |
| 初衷 | [ chū zhōng ] original intention |
| 初設 | [ chū shè ] first founded |
| 初試 | [ chū shì ] preliminary exam, qualifying exam, first try, preliminary testing |
| 初試身手 | [ chū shì shēn shoǔ ] to have a try, to try one's hand, initial foray |
| 初賽 | [ chū saì ] preliminary contest, initial heats of a competition |
| 初選 | [ chū xuǎn ] primary election |
| 初露 | [ chū lù ] first sign (of budding talent) |
| 初露才華 | [ chū lù caí huá ] first sign of budding talent, to display one's ability for the first time |
| 初露鋒芒 | [ chū lù fēng máng ] first sign of budding talent, to display one's ability for the first time |
| 初露頭角 | [ chū lù toú ] lit. to first show one's horns (idiom); fig. a first show of emerging talent, first sign of emerging talent, budding genius |
| ⇒ 人之初，性本善 | [ rén zhī chū xìng běn shàn ] man at birth is fundamentally good in nature, the first two lines of Three Character Classic 三字經|三字经[San1 zi4 Jing1] |
| ⇒ 元末明初 | [ yuán mò míng chū ] late Yuan and early Ming, mid 14th century |
| ⇒ 凌濛初 | [ líng méng chū ] Ling Mengchu (1580-1644), Ming dynasty novelist and dramatist, also written 凌蒙初[Ling2 Meng2 chu1] |
| ⇒ 凌蒙初 | [ líng méng chū ] Ling Mengchu (1580-1644), Ming dynasty novelist and dramatist, also written 凌濛初|凌蒙初[Ling2 Meng2 chu1] |
| ⇒ 原初 | [ yuán chū ] initial, original, originally, at first |
| ⇒ 和好如初 | [ hé haǒ rú chū ] to bury the hatchet, to become reconciled |
| ⇒ 唐初四大家 | [ táng chū sì dà jiā ] Four Great Calligraphers of early Tang, refers to Yu Shinan 虞世南[Yu2 Shi4 nan2], Ouyang Xun 歐陽詢|欧阳询[Ou1 yang2 Xun2], Chu Suiliang 褚遂良[Chu3 Sui4 liang2] and Xue Ji 薛稷[Xue1 Ji4] |
| ⇒ 太初 | [ taì chū ] the absolute beginning |
| ⇒ 如初 | [ rú chū ] as before, as ever |
| ⇒ 完好如初 | [ wán haǒ rú chū ] intact, untouched, as good as before |
| ⇒ 小升初 | [ shēng chū ] progression from elementary school to junior high (abbr. for 小學生升入初中生|小学生升入初中生[xiao3 xue2 sheng1 sheng1 ru4 chu1 zhong1 sheng1]) |
| ⇒ 年代初 | [ nián daì chū ] beginning of an age, beginning of a decade |
| ⇒ 年初 | [ nián chū ] beginning of the year |
| ⇒ 張靜初 | [ zhāng jìng chū ] Zhang Jingchu (1980-), PRC actress |
| ⇒ 往初 | [ wǎng chū ] (literary) former times, in olden days |
| ⇒ 悔不當初 | [ huǐ bù dāng chū ] to regret one's past deeds (idiom) |
| ⇒ 情竇初開 | [ qíng doù chū kaī ] first awakening of love (usually of a girl) (idiom) |
| ⇒ 既有今日何必當初 | [ jì yoǔ jīn rì hé bì dāng chū ] see 早知今日何必當初|早知今日何必当初[zao3 zhi1 jin1 ri4 he2 bi4 dang1 chu1] |
| ⇒ 早知今日何必當初 | [ zaǒ zhī jīn rì hé bì dāng chū ] if I (you, she, he...) had known it would come to this, I (you, she, he...) would not have acted thus (idiom), to regret vainly one's past behavior |
| ⇒ 明初 | [ míng chū ] the early Ming (i.e. from second half of 14th century) |
| ⇒ 明末清初 | [ míng mò qīng chū ] late Ming and early Qing, around the middle of the 17th century |
| ⇒ 易初蓮花 | [ yì chū lián huā ] Lotus (department store chain) |
| ⇒ 最初 | [ zuì chū ] first, primary, initial, original, at first, initially, originally |
| ⇒ 月初 | [ yuè chū ] start of month, early in the month |
| ⇒ 本初子午線 | [ běn chū zǐ wǔ xiàn ] the first meridian, the prime meridian |
| ⇒ 格林尼治本初子午線 | [ gé lín ní zhì běn chū zǐ wǔ xiàn ] the Greenwich meridian |
| ⇒ 正月初一 | [ zhēng yuè chū yī ] New Year's Day in the lunar calendar |
| ⇒ 清末民初 | [ qīng mò mín chū ] the late Qing and early Republic, i.e. China around 1911 |
| ⇒ 漢末魏初 | [ hàn mò weì chū ] late Han and early Wei (roughly, first half of 3rd century AD) |
| ⇒ 當初 | [ dāng chū ] at that time, originally |
| ⇒ 華燈初上 | [ huá dēng chū shàng ] early evening when lanterns are first lit |
| ⇒ 起初 | [ qǐ chū ] originally, at first, at the outset |
| ⇒ 躲得過初一，躲不過十五 | [ duǒ de guò chū yī duǒ bù guò shí wǔ ] lit. you may go undetected during the new moon, but at full moon you'll be found out (idiom), fig. you can't put it off forever, sooner or later you'll have to deal with it |
| ⇒ 躲過初一，躲不過十五 | [ duǒ guò chū yī duǒ bù guò shí wǔ ] see 躲得過初一，躲不過十五|躲得过初一，躲不过十五[duo3 de5 guo4 chu1 yi1 , duo3 bu4 guo4 shi2 wu3] |
| ⇒ 開初 | [ kaī chū ] at the outset, at first, early |
| ⇒ 阿初佛 | [ ā chū fó ] erroneous variant of 阿閦佛, Aksobhya, the imperturbable ruler of Eastern Paradise, Abhirati |
| ⇒ 靡不有初，鮮克有終 | [ mǐ bù yoǔ chū xiǎn kè yoǔ zhōng ] almost everything has a start, but not many things have an end (idiom); don't start sth you can't handle |
