元年 yuánnián first year of a reign Definitions Defs Origin Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents yuánnián first year of a reign 元 yuán noun era (literary) era; the first year of a reign年 nián noun year a year or the duration of a year; also used to describe annual or yearly occurrencesyuánnián inaugural year · year one 元 yuán noun first (bound form) first; primary; original; such as in 元旦 yuándàn年 nián noun year a year or the duration of a year; also used to describe annual or yearly occurrences