原始
yuánshǐ · HSK 5
original
🌱 原始 = source + begin → original, primeval
原 means source or origin (think of the root word in 原因 'reason'); 始 means begin or start (as in 开始). Together they mean 'from the very start' — original, firsthand, or primitive.
原 — cliff 厂 + spring 泉 (white 白 + water 水)
Originally a pictograph showing a spring of water flowing out from beneath a cliff, depicting the source of a stream. From this concrete image of a water source, the meaning extended to 'origin,' 'source,' and 'original.' A separate character 源 was later created with the water radical 氵 to keep the literal 'spring' sense.