Chinese word

源头

Pronunciation

Pinyinyuán tóu

Meaning

  • nounsource

Example

这条河的源头在山区。zhè tiáo hé de yuán tóu zài shān qū

The source of this river is in the mountains.

Illustration for 源头 (source)

More examples

记者追查到消息的源头，证实了报道。jì zhě zhuī chá dào xiāo xī de yuán tóu zhèng shí le bào dào

The reporter traced the source of the news and confirmed the report.

Core concept

The first identifiable place or link from which something develops and moves forward.

Common phrases

  • 河流的源头hé liú de yuán tóu

    source of a river

  • 污染的源头wū rǎn de yuán tóu

    source of pollution

  • 消息的源头xiāo xī de yuán tóu

    source of the news

  • 追查源头zhuī chá yuán tóu

    trace the source

Similar words

起源qǐ yuán: The first place or time at which something begins to exist.
根源gēn yuán: The fundamental cause underlying a problem or situation.
源泉yuán quán: A source that supplies water, funds, or the material for something to develop.
发源地fā yuán dì: The exact place where a river or disease starts.

Definition in Chinese

某事或某物的起始处或原始出处，常用于指河流的发源地，也用于指引发某一结果的来源。mǒu shì huò mǒu wù de qí shǐ chù huò yuán shǐ chū chǔ cháng yòng yú zhǐ hé liú de fā yuán dì yě yòng yú zhǐ yǐn fā mǒu yì jié guǒ de lái yuán

Word origin

The compound joins 源 (yuán, "source") and 头 (tóu, "head"), turning the head of a spring into the first point of a river and then of any developing process.

Usage tips

  • English often uses "beginning" for a time, but this Chinese noun keeps a source-like sense when a conversation follows a problem, event, or story back to its first cause.

Other meanings

  • springnoun
  • originnoun
  • starting pointnoun

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word