first sign of the Chinese calendar; first of the ten celestial stems
Refers to 甲 (きのえ), the first of the ten celestial stems (十干) used in the traditional Chinese sexagenary cycle. This is a specialized term encountered mainly in historical, calendrical, or astrological contexts.
See also: 十干
The first of the ten celestial stems is 甲 (きのえ).
甲 (きのえ) is also written as 木の兄 and represents yang wood.
The reading きのえ is a native Japanese term composed of 木 (き, 'wood') + の (possessive particle) + 兄 (え, 'elder brother'), reflecting the traditional association of 甲 with the elder brother of wood and yang energy. The kanji 甲 itself is a borrowing from Chinese, where it originally depicted a seed sprouting.