字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

beginning, former time, origin

On’yomi ゲン、ガン
Kun’yomi もと
Nanori ちか、はじめ、はる、ゆき、よし

Origin

The character 元 appears to show a person or figure (儿, the bottom part) with something above their head or at the top (二). This combination suggests the idea of a beginning or starting point — picturing a person at the origin or foundation of something. The two horizontal lines at the top might represent a boundary or the very first moment, with the human form below representing where things commence. Over time, this visual concept of "first" or "origin" became the standard meaning for this character.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

元 4 strokes

Components

  • 二 radical top
  • 儿 radical bottom

Common words

  • 一元 いちげん single element; unitary
  • 家元 いえもと head of a school (of music, dance); head family of a school
  • 還元 かんげん restoration; return
  • 紀元 きげん era
  • 襟元 えりもと (around the) neck; nape
  • 元気 げんき lively; full of spirit
  • 元号 げんごう name of an imperial era (e.g. Heisei, Shōwa); Japanese era name
  • 元首 げんしゅ sovereign; ruler

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
4
Kangxi radical
10
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#192 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+05143