本 běn (bound form) root / stem / (bound form) origin / source / (bound form) one's own / this / (bound form) this / the current (year etc) / (bound form) original / (bound form) inherent / originally / initially / capital / principal / classifier for books, periodicals, files etc syn 根本 gēn běn fundamental / basic / root / simply / absolutely (not) / (not) at all / CL:個|个[ge4] syn 原因 yuán yīn cause / origin / root cause / reason / CL:個|个[ge4] syn 根 gēn root / basis / classifier for long slender objects, e.g. cigarettes, guitar strings / CL:條|条[tiao2] / radical (chemistry) syn 格 gé square / frame / rule / (legal) case / style / character / standard / pattern / (grammar) case / (classical) to obstruct / to hinder / (classical) to arrive / to come / (classical) to investigate / to study exhaustively syn 方 fāng square / power or involution (math.) / upright / honest / fair and square / direction / side / party (to a contract, dispute etc) / place / method / prescription (medicine) / just when / only or just / classifier for square things / abbr. for square or cubic meter syn 规矩 規矩 guī ju lit. compass and set square / fig. established standard / rule / customs / practices / fig. upright and honest / well-behaved syn 广场 廣場 guǎng chǎng public square / plaza 部位 bù wèi part (esp. of the body, but also of a vegetable, e.g. the root, or a garment, e.g. the sleeve, etc) syn 配方 pèi fāng prescription / cooking recipe / formulation / completing the square (to solve quadratic equation, math.) syn 平方 píng fāng square (as in square foot, square mile, square root) 根源 gēn yuán origin / root (cause) syn 铲除 剷除 chǎn chú to root out / to eradicate / to sweep away / to abolish syn 标本 標本 biāo běn specimen / sample / the root cause and symptoms of a disease 对阵 對陣 duì zhèn poised for battle / to square up for a fight syn 方块 方塊 fāng kuài cube / block / square / rectangle / diamond ♦ (in card games) syn 下体 下體 xià tǐ lower body / euphemism for genitals / root and stem of plants syn 原点 原點 yuán diǎn starting point / square one / (coordinate geometry) origin 甘草 gān cǎo licorice root 正方形 zhèng fāng xíng square 方形 fāng xíng square / square-shaped 扎根 zhā gēn to take root 斩草除根 斬草除根 zhǎn cǎo chú gēn to cut weeds and eliminate the roots (idiom) / to destroy root and branch / to eliminate completely syn 助阵 助陣 zhù zhèn to cheer / to root for 堂堂正正 táng táng zhèng zhèng displaying strength and discipline / impressive / upright and frank / square syn 方格 fāng gé checked pattern / square box character (in Chinese text) indicating an illegible character 方阵 方陣 fāng zhèn square-shaped formation (military) / phalanx / (math.) matrix 祸根 禍根 huò gēn root of the trouble / cause of the ruin syn 平方米 píng fāng mǐ square meter 除暴安良 chú bào ān liáng to root out the strong and give people peace (idiom) / to rob the rich and give to the poor syn 牙根 yá gēn root of tooth 莲藕 蓮藕 lián ǒu lotus root syn 词根 詞根 cí gēn (linguistics) root 方寸 fāng cùn square cun (Chinese unit of area: 1 cun × 1 cun, or 3⅓ cm × 3⅓ cm) / heart / mind syn 另起炉灶 另起爐灶 lìng qǐ lú zào lit. to set up a separate kitchen (idiom) / to start from scratch / back to square one / to start of on a new path syn 治本 zhì běn to tackle a problem at its root / to effect a permanent solution (contrasted with 治標|治标[zhi4biao1]) syn 见方 見方 jiàn fāng (measurement) (after a length) square (as in "10 feet square") syn 平方公里 píng fāng gōng lǐ square kilometer 红场 紅場 hóng chǎng Red Square (in Moscow) 方正 fāng zhèng clear and square / neat / square (person) syn 治标 治標 zhì biāo to treat only the symptoms but not the root cause 平米 píng mǐ square meter / short for 平方米 根目录 根目錄 gēn mù lù root directory 方丈 fāng zhang square zhang (i.e. unit of area 10 feet square) / monastic room 10 feet square / Buddhist or Daoist abbot / abbot's chamber syn 植根 zhí gēn to take root / to establish a base 病根 bìng gēn an incompletely cured illness / an old complaint / the root cause of trouble syn 舌根 shé gēn back of tongue / tongue root / dorsal 铜钱 銅錢 tóng qián copper coin (round with a square hole in the middle, used in former times in China) syn 木香 mù xiāng costus root (medicinal herb) / aucklandia / Saussurea costus / Dolomiaea souliei syn 根底 gēn dǐ foundation / grounding / background / what lies at the bottom of sth / root / cause syn 白头翁 白頭翁 bái tóu wēng root of Chinese pulsatilla / Chinese bulbul 支部 zhī bù branch, esp. grass root branches of a political party syn 根系 gēn xì root system 除根 chú gēn to root out / to eliminate the roots / to cure once and for all syn 开方 開方 kāi fāng (medicine) to write out a prescription / (math.) to extract a root from a given quantity 方括号 方括號 fāng kuò hào square brackets [ ] 根本原因 gēn běn yuán yīn root cause 防风 防風 fáng fēng to protect from wind / fangfeng (Saposhnikovia divaricata), its root used in TCM 人民广场 人民廣場 rén mín guǎng chǎng People's Square, Shanghai 时代广场 時代廣場 shí dài guǎng chǎng Times Square 天安门广场 天安門廣場 tiān ān mén guǎng chǎng Tiananmen Square 黄芪 黃芪 huáng qí huangqi / milk vetch root (used in TCM) / Astragalus membranaceus or Astragalus mongholicus 结清 結淸 jié qīng to settle (an account) / to square up 白芷 bái zhǐ Dahurian angelica (Angelica dahurica) / root of Dahurian angelica (used in TCM) 党参 黨參 dǎng shēn poor man's ginseng (Codonopsis pilosula) / codonopsis root (used in TCM) syn 板蓝根 板藍根 bǎn lán gēn indigo woad root / root of Isatis tinctoria (used in TCM) 字根 zì gēn component of a Chinese character / (linguistics) word root / etymon 柴胡 chái hú Chinese thorowax (Bupleurum chinense) / root of Chinese thorowax (used in TCM) 何首乌 何首烏 hé shǒu wū Chinese knotweed (Polygonum multiflorum) / fleeceflower root 白芍 bái sháo root of herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora), used in TCM 八仙桌 bā xiān zhuō old-fashioned square table to seat eight people syn 方根 fāng gēn (math.) root (as in "fourth root (∜)", 4次方根[si4ci4 fang1gen1]) syn 须根 須根 xū gēn fibrous root 丹皮 dān pí the root bark of the peony tree 根由 gēn yóu the whys and the wherefores / the detailed story / root cause syn 紫草 zǐ cǎo red root gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon) / flowering plant whose roots provide purple dye / arnebia (plant genus in family Boraginaceae) 刺五加 cì wǔ jiā manyprickle (Acanthopanax senticosus), root used in TCM 牛膝 niú xī Achyranthes bidentata (root used in Chinese medicine) 玄参 玄參 xuán shēn Ningpo figwort (Scrophularia ningpoensis) / root of Ningpo figwort (used in TCM) syn 舍本逐末 捨本逐末 shě běn zhú mò to neglect the root and pursue the tip (idiom) / to neglect fundamentals and concentrate on details syn 沙参 沙參 shā shēn ladybell root (Radix adenophorae) syn 人民英雄纪念碑 人民英雄紀念碑 rén mín yīng xióng jì niàn bēi Monument to the People's Heroes, at Tiananmen Square 直角尺 zhí jiǎo chǐ a set square (carpenter's tool) 源 yuán root / source / origin syn 圭 guī jade tablet, square at the base and rounded or pointed at the top, held by the nobility at ceremonies / sundial / (ancient unit of volume) a tiny amount / a smidgen / a speck syn 株 zhū tree trunk / stump (tree root) / a plant / classifier for trees or plants / strain (biology) / to involve others (in shady business) syn 循规蹈矩 循規蹈矩 xún guī dǎo jǔ to follow the compass and go with the set square (idiom) / to follow the rules inflexibly / to act according to convention syn 矩 jǔ carpenter's square / rule / regulation / pattern / to carve syn 坪 píng a plain / ping, unit of area equal to approx. 3.3058 square meters (used in Japan and Taiwan) syn 藕 ǒu root of lotus syn 块根 塊根 kuài gēn root tuber / tuberous root 榘 jǔ variant of 矩, carpenter's square / rule / regulation / pattern / to carve 芷 zhǐ angelica (type of iris) / plant root used in TCM 轸 軫 zhěn square / strongly (as of emotion) syn 角尺 jiǎo chǐ set square (tool to measure right angles) syn 三角板 sān jiǎo bǎn set square / triangle (for drawing right angles) syn 锄强扶弱 鋤強扶弱 chú qiáng fú ruò to root out the strong and support the weak (idiom) / to rob the rich and give to the poor syn 曲尺 qū chǐ set square (tool to measure right angles) syn 刨根 páo gēn lit. to dig up the root / to get to the heart of (the matter) 