Dictionary › 本末

本末

běn mò

2-character word

What 本末 means

1. the whole course of an event from beginning to end
2. ins and outs
3. the fundamental and the incidental

The characters in 本末

• 本běn(bound form) root; stem; (bound form) origin; source; (bound form) one's own; this
• 末mòtip; end; final stage

Example sentences

• 不要把本末倒置。
  Bù yào bǎ běnmòdàozhì.
  Don't put the cart before the horse.

Words starting with 本末

• 本末倒置běn mò dào zhìlit. to invert root and branch (idiom); fig. confusing cause and effect…

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read běn mò correctly.
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