元々

もともと

originally, by nature

Mnemonic

Back at the origin, and then said twice over for good measure. The same ex-motor もと as 元, twice. France was the plan before any of this started: もともと.

Worth knowing

本来ほんらい is what a thing essentially is. 元々 is what it was at the beginning.

Built from

元

origin, base

Two strokes over 儿 legs, a person at their starting point.

々

repeat mark

Not a kanji. Typesetters call it ノマ because that is what it looks like, katakana ノ sat on マ. It means repeat the character before it, so 色々 is 色色 and 人々 is 人人. Formally it is a 踊り字, a dancing mark.

Words sharing these kanji

元気 energetic, healthy 元 former, ex-足元 step, under foot 色々 various, in various ways 我々 we (formal)人々 people 日々 daily, every day 少々 a little, a few 様々 various, diverse

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Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.