The kanji 元: meaning, readings and stroke order

元

Meaning: origin, beginning
On reading: ゲン gen、ガン gan
Kun reading: もと moto
Strokes: 4
Radical: 儿 legs
Level: Level 2 · grade 2

Stroke order

Meaning in other languages

Vietnamese: gốc, ban đầu (nguyên)
Japanese: もと。はじめ。
Korean: 처음, 원래 (원)
Chinese: 原来、开始

Readings, words and example sentences

ゲン gen · on reading

元げん気き
healthy, cheerful
今日もとても 元げん気きです。
I'm full of energy again today.

ガン gan · on reading

元がん日じつ
New Year's Day
元がん日じつは朝から晴れました。
On New Year's Day it was sunny from the morning.

もと moto · kun reading

元もと
original place, how it was
本を 元もとの場しょにもどします。
I put the book back where it was.

Practise writing 元 in the app

In Dino Kids your child writes 元 with a finger and every stroke is checked, then takes the Level 2 practice test. Free, no ads, no in-app purchases.

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Readings, radicals: Kanjium, KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); strokes: KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); Korean, simplified forms: Unicode Unihan. Meanings, sentences: Dino Kids (CC0). See Licences.