元

See also: 示 and 亓

Translingual

Stroke order

Etymology

Historical forms of the character 元
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Pictogram (象形) – a figure with two lines 二 for a head (one connected to body, one above it), emphasizing the head.

Han character

元 (radical 10 儿+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 一一山 (MMU), four-corner 1021₁, composition ⿱二儿)

1. first
2. unit of currency (substitution of 圆)
3. origin
4. head

Synonyms

• (first): 頭
• (unit of currency): 圆
• (origin): 原
• (head): 頭

Derived characters

• 完

References

• KangXi: page 123, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1340
• Dae Jaweon: page 258, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 264, character 6
• Unihan data for U+5143

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Chinese

		-
simp. and trad.		元

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yuán, ruì, yuè (yuan², rui⁴, yue⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄩㄢˊ, ㄖㄨㄟˋ, ㄩㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyun⁴
• Min Nan (POJ): gôan

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: yuán
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄢˊ
    • Wade-Giles: yüan²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuan
    • IPA ^(key): /y̯ɛn³⁵/

    • (file)

      
      
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: ruì
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄨㄟˋ
    • Wade-Giles: jui⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ruey
    • IPA ^(key): /ʐu̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
      
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: yuè
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄝˋ
    • Wade-Giles: yüeh⁴
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yueh
    • IPA ^(key): /y̯œ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyun⁴
    • Yale: yùhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyn⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /jyːn²¹/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gôan
    • Tâi-lô: guân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: goaan
    • IPA (Taipei): /guan²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /guan¹³/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (元, reconstructed)
Character (元), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 疑 (31) Final: 元 Division: III			Openness: Closed Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 愚袁切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/ŋʉɐn/	/ŋi̯wɐn/	/ŋiuɐn/	/ŋʷiɐn/	/ŋuan/	/ŋĭwɐn/	/ŋiuɐn/

Old Chinese pronunciation (元, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
元								yuán								‹ ngjwon ›								/*[ŋ]o[r] (< nasal + uvular)/								head; first
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system: Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
元					16145					元					元					3					元					/*ŋon/

Noun

元

1. first; primary
2. basic; fundamental
3. yuan, unit of currency of renminbi (RMB)

Proper noun

元

1. A surname​.
2. the Yuan or Mongol dynasty

Compounds

• 元宝
• 元旦
• 元件
• 元老
• 元年
• 元配
• 元气
• 元日
• 元首
• 元帅
• 元素
• 元素符号
• 元宵
• 元宵节
• 元凶
• 元勋
• 元鱼
• 元月
• CN元

References

• (Mandarin) “元”, MDBG English to Chinese dictionary ( Based on CC-CEDICT )^[1] (in Mandarin/English), retrieved 2014-02-22
• (Min Nan) Taiwan Min Nan Common Words Dictionary (臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典)

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Japanese

Kanji

元

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: ごん (gon)
• Kan’on: げん (gen)
• Tōon: がん (gan)
• Kun: もと (moto), こうべ (kōbe)

Compounds

• 元気
• 元凶
• 元金
• 元号
• 元日
• 元首
• 元帥
• 元祖
• 元素
• 元旦
• 元朝
• 元服
• 元本
• 元来
• 元悪
• 元価
• 元兇
• 元勲
• 元軍
• 元々, 元元

• 元高
• 元三
• 元始
• 元手
• 元鞘
• 元職
• 元栓
• 元値
• 元帳
• 元締
• 元入金
• 元年
• 元標
• 元方
• 元利
• 元老
• 元禄
• 元寇
• お手元, 御手元

Kanji in this term
元
もと Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Noun

元 ‎(hiragana もと, romaji moto)

1. cause, origin
2. basis, foundation
3. cost

   元 (もと)がとれる

   moto ga toreru

   to be able to cover the cost

4. (finance) capital
5. principal

Alternative forms

• 本, 原, 基, 素

Derived terms

• 元は
• もとに
• 元より
• 元結い
• 元通り
• 元売り

Proper noun

元 ‎(hiragana はじめ, romaji Hajime)

1. A male given name

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Korean

Hanja

元 • ‎(won)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 원 (revised: won, McCune-Reischauer: wŏn)

• Name (hangeul): 으뜸()

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

元 (nguyên, nguyễn)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.