Chinese symbol for “source”
来源
lái yuán
Traditional: 來源
source (of information etc); origin
The closest CC-CEDICT match for source is 来源 (lái yuán), defined as: source (of information etc); origin.
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 “source”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 产地 (產地) | chǎn dì | source (of a product); place of origin |
| 源头 (源頭) | yuán tóu | source; origin; fountainhead |
| 出处 (出處) | chū chù | source (esp. of quotation or literary allusion); origin |
| 先河 | xiān hé | source; precursor; forerunner |
| 原 | yuán | former; original |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 来源.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| 以来 (以來) | yǐ lái | since (used after a specified time or event) |
| 资源 (資源) | zī yuán | natural resource (such as water or minerals); resource (such as manpower or tourism) |
| 能源 | néng yuán | energy sources; energy |
| 源于 (源於) | yuán yú | has its origins in |
| 起源 | qǐ yuán | origin; to originate |
See also: Japanese symbol for “source”.
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.