本末

Chinese

		roots or stems of plants; origin; source roots or stems of plants; origin; source; this; the current; root; foundation; basis; (a measure word)	end; final stage; latter part
simp. and trad. (本末)		本	末

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): běnmò

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄣˇ ㄇㄛˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bun² mut⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: běnmò
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄣˇ ㄇㄛˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: běnmò
    • Wade–Giles: pên³-mo⁴
    • Yale: běn-mwò
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: beenmoh
    • Palladius: бэньмо (bɛnʹmo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pən²¹⁴⁻²¹ mu̯ɔ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bun² mut⁶
    • Yale: bún muht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bun² mut⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bun² mud⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /puːn³⁵ muːt̚²/

Noun

本末

1. (literally) root or trunk of a tree and the branches
2. (figuratively) the fundamental and the incidental
3. (figuratively) ins and outs; the whole story

   《通鑑紀事本末》 [MSC, trad.]
   《通鉴纪事本末》 [MSC, simp.]

   “Tōngjiàn Jìshì Běnmò” [Pinyin]

   Historical Events of the Comprehensive Mirror in their Entirety

Synonyms

• (the fundamental and the incidental): 主次 (zhǔcì)
• (ins and outs):

edit

• 事情經過 / 事情经过 (shìqíng jīngguò)
• 事由 (shìyóu)
• 原委 (yuánwěi)
• 委曲 (wěiqū)
• 始末 (shǐmò)
• 究竟 (jiūjìng)
• 經過 / 经过 (jīngguò)

 

Derived terms

• 本末不稱 / 本末不称
• 本末倒置 (běnmòdàozhì)
• 本末有序
• 本末舛逆
• 本末顛倒 / 本末颠倒 (běnmòdiāndǎo)

 

Related terms

• 樹根／树根 (shùgēn)
• 樹梢／树梢 (shùshāo)