EntryJLPT N3
  1. Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no', Noun, used as a prefix

    former; ex-; past; one-time

    うちのかみさんは元プロレスラーで、だからもし私が浮気をしているところを見つかりでもしようものなら、それこそコテンパンにやられてしまうよ。
    My wife used to be a pro-wrestler, so if she ever catches me two-timing her, I'd be beaten to a pulp.
  2. Noun, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

    earlier times; the past; previous state

  3. Noun, Adverb (fukushi)

    formerly; previously; originally; before

Also written 旧【もと】故【もと】

Pitch on OJAD

Characters in this word

1
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0

beginning, former time, origin

Kun
もと
On
ゲンガン
Strokes
4
Taught
Grade 2
JLPT
N4
Frequency
192 of 2500
Radical
legs
WaniKani
Level 3

Built from

Used in names as

ちかはじめはるゆきよし

Dictionary and index codes (34)
CodeReference
2-1-3SKIP code
0a4.5The Kanji Dictionary
1021.1Four corner code
3057deroo
5143Unicode hex code
1-24-21JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
275Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
343New Nelson (John Haig)
1929New Japanese-English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2428Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1226Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1690Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
59Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
63Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
328A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
60Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
106Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
1340Morohashi
106A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
137Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
137Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
68sakade
121Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
117henshall3
89Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
408crowley
245Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
2.10busy_people
141Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
59Les Kanjis dans la tête (Yves Maniette)
yuan2Pinyin reading
weonKorean reading
n4JLPT level (KANJIDIC2)
3WaniKani level