why does 先 means "ahead" and "previous" at the same time?


sometimes 先 (saki) means the future, but for ex 先月 means previous month . why?
how?




The character 先 means to "move ahead". The character itself is comprised of 之
which represents "footprints" and 儿 which represents a person. I think
imagining footprints in the sand gives a good image.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tDeEc.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tDeEc.png)

So if you think about it in this sense, it can represent 先月 or 先日 as something
that "came before" such as the footprints. However, at the same time, those
footprints can represent a course you haven't taken yet. So when someone says
"先が楽しみ", you are looking forward in taking that path in the future they
haven't explored yet.




The character 先 means to "move ahead". The character itself is comprised of 之
which represents "footprints" and 儿 which represents a person. I think
imagining footprints in the sand gives a good image.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tDeEc.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tDeEc.png)

So if you think about it in this sense, it can represent 先月 or 先日 as something
that "came before" such as the footprints. However, at the same time, those
footprints can represent a course you haven't taken yet. So when someone says
"先が楽しみ", you are looking forward in taking that path in the future they
haven't explored yet.

