位 - RANK is Where You Stand in Life

Readings & Meanings:

イ

くらい

rank, position, about

Common Usage:

一位

位地

位

Examples:

マラソンで一位になった。

位地について、ヨーイ、ドン。

公爵は伯爵よりも位が高い。

Translations:

I got first place in the marathon.

On your mark, get set, go!

A prince's rank is higher than a duke's.

Bonus:

Look at the kanji: 位. We've got a Nin-ben, or person radical on the left. That's right, those two intersecting lines you've seen since you could read 休 are a scrunched form of 人.

And we've got 立 on the right, meaning to stand. So rank (位) is where a person stands. A person's standing in life, in a game, etc. Nice how that fits together.

And yes, this 位 is the same as the hiragana くらい that you use when referencing approximations. I'm pretty sure you hardly ever write it out, though.

References:

http://www.thejapanesepage.com/kanji/kanji/i.htm