HSK 6 · Ideas

来源 láiyuán “source” in Chinese

Traditional 來源

What 来源 means

  1. source
  2. to originate from
  3. source (of information etc)
  4. origin

How to say 来源

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale来lái2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale源yuán2nd tone, rising

来源 in a sentence

  1. 什么是您最大的灵感来源？

    Shénme shì nín zuì dà de línggǎn láiyuán?

    What is your greatest source of inspiration?

    Sentence #502798 from Tatoeba

  2. 金钱本身并不是幸福的来源。

    Jīnqián běnshēn bìng bú shì xìngfú de láiyuán.

    Money in itself isn’t a source of happiness.

    Sentence #13795584 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 这个词来源于希腊语。

    Zhè ge cí láiyuán yú Xīlàyǔ.

    This word comes from Greek.

    Sentence #6284425 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 来源 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 来 (lái) with each of its parts in a different colour
来láito come
  • 未part of the character
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā

Memory aidDrawn from a stalk of wheat. It was borrowed early on for “to come”.

The character 源 (yuán) with each of its parts in a different colour
源yuánroot
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 原source · yuánSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 原 (yuán) hints at the sound. Compare it with yuán.

How to write 来源

来 7 strokes · 源 13 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

来源 (láiyuán) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 来源 (láiyuán). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 来源

Words with 来

来lái · to come出来chūlái · to come out过来guòlái · to come over回来huílai · to return进来jìnlái · to come in上来shànglái · to come up下来xiàlai · to come down后来hòulái · afterwards起来qǐlai · beginning or continuing an action带来dàilái · to bring (about)

Words with 源

资源zīyuán · resources能源néngyuán · energy电源diànyuán · power supply根源gēnyuán · root起源qǐyuán · origin源泉yuánquán · source

More words: Ideas & Concepts

空白kòngbái · blank框架kuàngjià · frame苦尽甘来kǔjìngānlái · after hardship comes happiness来历láilì · origin良心liángxīn · conscience立场lìchǎng · position里程碑lǐchéngbēi · milestone灵魂línghún · soul

FAQs

来源 (láiyuán) means “source” or “to originate from”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it láiyuán: lái with a 2nd tone, then yuán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 来源 is written 來源. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type laiyuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 来源 from the suggestions. Typing laiyuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
来源 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.