滥觞

濫觴
lànshāng
  1. lit. floating wine goblets on a stream
  2. the origin (of some phenomenon)

CEDICT

  1. (literary) source; origin
  2. (literary) to originate
  3. (literary) to spread to and affect; to spread and influence; to involve
  4. (literary) to spread unchecked; to run rampant
  5. source; origin
  6. to originate
  7. to spread to and affect; to spread and influence; to involve
  8. to spread unchecked; to run rampant

Wiktionary

  1. 水流发源的地方。因其水量非常浅小，而仅能浮起一个酒杯，故称为「滥觞」。
  2. 比喻事物的开端、起源。

重編國語辭典

  1. 事物的开端、起源
  2. 来自，出自
  3. 小水
  4. 水流发源的地方
  5. 泛滥，过分
  6. 波及，影响

維基詞典

Entry Composition

1 滥 làn
  1. overflowing
  2. excessive
  3. indiscriminate
2 觞 shāng
  1. feast
  2. goblet

Related entries

肇 zhào
  1. the start
  2. the origin
上海以前有许多小河浜，其中有肇家浜、洋泾浜，现在都被填了。

There used to be a lot of small creeks in old time Shanghai, which included Zhaojia Creek and Yangjing Creek, but they're all covered up nowadays.

Source: Tatoeba

极点 jídiǎn
  1. extreme point
  2. pole
  3. the origin (in polar coordinates)
斯科特是第一个到达极点的人。

Scott was the first man to reach the pole.

Source: Tatoeba