Chinese symbol for “original”
原来
yuán lái
Traditional: 原來
original; former; originally; formerly; at first; so, actually, as it turns out
The closest CC-CEDICT match for original is 原来 (yuán lái), defined as: original; former; originally; formerly; at first; so, actually, as it turns out.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “original”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 本来 (本來) | běn lái | original; originally |
| 原有 | yuán yǒu | original; former |
| 原生 | yuán shēng | original; primary |
| 独到 (獨到) | dú dào | original |
| 原件 | yuán jiàn | the original; original document |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 原来.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 原因 | yuán yīn | cause; origin |
| 原则 (原則) | yuán zé | principle; doctrine |
| 原本 | yuán běn | originally; the original; original copy; original version |
| 原始 | yuán shǐ | first; original |
| 原理 | yuán lǐ | principle; theory |
| 起来 (起來) | qǐ lai | to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2] |
| 出来 (出來) | chū lái | to come out; to appear |
| 来自 (來自) | lái zì | to come from (a place); From: (in email header) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “original”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.