nguyên

See also: Nguyen, Nguyên, and Nguyễn

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• (Southern Vietnam, obsolete) nguơn

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ŋwiən˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ŋwiəŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ŋwiəŋ˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

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Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 元 (“first; former”), from Literary Chinese 元 (yuán). The monetary sense is from modern Mandarin 元 (yuán), which was artificially made into a simplified form of 圓／圆 (yuán, viên). Compare Sino-Japanese 元 (gen, “yuan”) and native Japanese 元 (moto-, “former”).

Noun

nguyên

1. yuan

Prefix

nguyên

1. (officialese) former

   nguyên Chủ tịch nước… ― former President…

   nguyên Tổng bí thư… ― former General Secretary…

Derived terms

• Công Nguyên (公元, “the Common Era”)
• đa nguyên (多元, “pluralistic”)
• giải nguyên (解元, “(historical) first place provincial imperial exam winner”)
• khôi nguyên (魁元, “(historical) first place imperial exam winner”)
• kỉ nguyên (紀元, “(literary) age; era”)
• nguyên âm (元音, “vowel”)
• nguyên đán (元旦, “(lunisolar) new year”)
• nguyên niên (元年, “(historical) first year of an imperial era”)
• nguyên soái (“(military) a marshal”)
• nguyên thủ (元首)
• nguyên tố (元素, “chemical element”)
• sau Công Nguyên (“the Common Era (misconstruction)”)
• Tết Nguyên Đán (“Vietnamese Lunar New Year”)
• thuyết nhất nguyên (說一元, “(philosophy) monism”)
• thứ nguyên (次元, “dimensional”)
• trạng nguyên (狀元, “(history) a zhuangyuan”)

 

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 原 (“origin”).

Adjective

nguyên

1. intact or unchanged

   Tiền mày gửi vẫn còn nguyên.

   The money you sent is still all there.

2. (number theory, arithmetic) integral

   số nguyên ― an integer

   phần nguyên ― the integral part of a decimal fraction

3. (law) related to the plaintiff

Derived terms

• bên nguyên (“plaintiff; prosecutor”)
• bình nguyên (平原, “(dated) plain”)
• cao nguyên (高原, “highland; plateau”)
• đài nguyên (苔原, “tundra”)
• kháng nguyên (抗原, “antigen”)
• nguyên bản (原本, “original”)
• nguyên cám (“whole-wheat”)
• nguyên cáo (原告, “accuser; plaintiff”)
• nguyên chất (原質, “pure; unadulterated”)
• nguyên cớ (“reason; cause”)
• nguyên đơn (原單, “plaintiff”)
• nguyên hình (原形, “original or true form”)
• nguyên lí (原理, “a principle”)
• nguyên liệu (原料, “raw material”)
• nguyên nhân (原因, “cause; reason”)
• nguyên sinh (原生, “primordial”)
• nguyên sơ (原初, “primordial; pristine”)
• nguyên tắc (原則, “principle”)
• nguyên thuỷ (原始, “(mythology, religion) primordial; primitive”)
• nguyên tử (原子, “atom”)
• nguyên tử (原子, “atom”)
• nguyên văn (原文, “verbatim; sic”)
• nguyên vẹn (“intact; whole; undamaged”)
• số nguyên (“integer”)
• Tây Nguyên (西原, “Central Highlands”)
• Thái Nguyên (太原, “Thai Nguyen”)
• thảo nguyên (草原, “grassland; steppe”)
• trung nguyên (中原, “(rare) central plains; China”)
• y nguyên (依原, “intact; unchanged”)

 

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 源. Doublet of nguồn.

Affix

nguyên

1. spring; source

Derived terms

• căn nguyên (根源, “origin; source; initial cause”)
• dị nguyên (異源, “allergen; antigen”)
• lai nguyên (來源, “source”)
• ngữ nguyên (語源, “(linguistics, account) etymology”)
• tài nguyên (財源, “resources”)
• từ nguyên (詞源, “(linguistics, account) etymology”)
• từ nguyên (辭源, “(linguistics, account) etymology”)

 

See also

• cố
• cựu