The story of 元

first, primary

元 is composed of 儿 and two strokes. 儿 is the picture of a man, a stroke points at the position of head, while another stroke is used to differentiate it from 兀. Both 元 and 儿 have the same origin, it original meaning is human head, also describe something first or primary.

Vocabulary of 元

  • 紀元 (beginning of an era)
  • 元始 (the origin of everything)
  • 元凶 (chief offender)

Classification

Related Characters: