What does the Chinese word yuan mean?

元 [yuán]

• a monetary uint; 1 Yuan equals to 10 Jiao or 100 Fen.
• a dynasty name; established by Mongolian.
• one of Chinese surnames
• when combined with some Words, it has the meaning of beginning or biggest, such as yuandan (元旦, the beginning of a year), yuanshou (元首, the head of state).