原名 (yuán míng) — original name; former name

Definition

The name a person, place, or work had before it was changed — not a nickname or alias. Used for both people and things like cities or books.

noun

original nameformer name

原名，。
Tā de yuán míng shì lǐ míng, hòu lái gǎi chéng le lǐ huá.
His original name was Li Ming; later he changed it to Li Hua.
原名。
Zhè ge chéng shì de yuán míng jiào cháng ān.
This city's former name was Chang'an.
原名《》。
Zhè běn shū de yuán míng shì 《hóng lóu mèng》.
The original title of this book is Dream of the Red Chamber.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

原yuánoriginal/former

原 means original or former, and 名 means name.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

原 combines 泉 (spring) and 厂 (cliff), picturing a spring bursting from a cliff-side, which gives the sense of origin or source.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

夕口名

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.