yuán

currency unit (esp. Chinese yuan)

surname Yuan; Yuan dynasty (1279–1368); (bound form) first; original; primary; (bound form) basic; fundamental; (bound form) constituent; part; (prefix) meta-; (math.) argument; variable; era (of a reign); (Tw) (geology) eon

a picture of 元 → a person with their head emphasized

The figure shows a standing person 儿 with two strokes marking the head as the topmost, most important part. From 'head' came the extensions: first, original, primary — the root of everything.

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Words with 元

八位元

bā wèi yuán

8-bit (computing)

连中三元

lián zhòng sān yuán

(old) to rank first in the imperial examinations at the provincial capital, the national capital and the palace successively

重元素

zhòng yuán sù

heavy element (such as uranium)

金元券

jīn yuán quàn

currency issued by Nationalist Government in 1948

银元

yín yuán

flat silver (former coinage)

双元音

shuāng yuán yīn

diphthong

锕系元素

ā xì yuán sù

actinoids (rare earth series), namely: actinium Ac89 錒|锕[a1], thorium Th90 釷|钍[tu3], protoactinium Pa91 鏷|镤[pu2], uranium U92 鈾|铀[you2], neptunium Ne93 鎿|镎[na2], plutonium Pu94 鈈|钚[bu4], americium Am95 鎇|镅[mei2], curium Cm96 鋦|锔[ju2], berkelium Bk97 錇|锫[pei2], californium Cf98 鐦|锎[kai1], einsteinium Es99 鎄|锿[ai1], fermium Fm100 鐨|镄[fei4], mendelevium Md101 鍆|钔[men2], nobelium No102 鍩|锘[nuo4], lawrencium Lr103 鐒|铹[lao2]

镧系元素

lán xì yuán sù

lanthanoid (rare earth series), namely: lanthanum La57 鑭|镧[lan2], cerium Ce58 鈰|铈[shi4], praseodymium Pr59 鐠|镨[pu3], neodymium Nd60 釹|钕[nu:3], promethium Pm61 鉕|钷[po3], samarium Sm62 釤|钐[shan1], europium Eu63 銪|铕[you3], gadolinium Gd64 釓|钆[ga2], terbium Tb65 鋱|铽[te4], dysprosium Dy66 鏑|镝[di1], holmium Ho67 鈥|钬[huo3], erbium Er68 鉺|铒[er3], thulium Tm69 銩|铥[diu1], ytterbium Yb70 鐿|镱[yi4], lutetium Lu71 鑥|镥[lu3]

闭元音

bì yuán yīn

close vowel

开元

kāi yuán

Tang emperor Xuanzong's 唐玄宗[Tang2 Xuan2 zong1] reign name used during the Kaiyuan era (713-741), a peak of Tang prosperity

开国元勋

kāi guó yuán xūn

variant of 開國元勳|开国元勋, founding figure (of country or dynasty)

阮元

ruǎn yuán

scholar-official in the Qing dynasty (1764-1849)

More characters with 二