本
Meaning
- (bound form) root; stem
- (bound form) origin; source
- (bound form) one's own; this
Example sentence
我买了一本书。
I bought a book.
The character 本
本 is 木, a tree, with a stroke drawn across its root. Root becomes origin — 本来 originally, 根本 fundamental, 基本 basic — and, because a book is bound at its spine, it is the measure word for books: 一本书, 课本, 笔记本.