DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
原
Characters in this entry
- 原
- yuán · source, origin, beginning
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2 · yuan2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
1character link65same-tone records
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 13 senses · 2 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
jyun4 · jyun5
Cantonese word readings for 原. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
character
- original; former; primary; prime; virgin
- primitive; initial; basic; fundamental
- unprocessed; raw; crude
- source; origin; beginning
- (literary, or in compounds) to forgive; to pardon; to excuse
- open country; plain; field; meadow
- originally; formerly; at the beginning
- (alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 塬 (plateau form (especially in northwest China))
- original form of 源 (yuán, “fountainhead; source; origin; root”)
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to trace the source; to probe into
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to originate; to arise
- (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) again; once again
- a surname, Yuan
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack