What is the usage of 先 vs. 元?

Question

I think that the both of them mean before, but I have seen that they are sometimes use in parent-child metaphors, but I always get confused with these. Some examples of ○○先、○○元 words would be appreciated.

どうぞよろしくお願いします。

Answer 1

If anything, they're more like antonyms. 先　denotes 'destination', while 元 denotes 'source', or 'beginning', or 'essence'.

先:

• 宛先, 届け先: delivery address
• 行き先: destination (of a trip)

元:

• 根元: by the root (e.g. of a tree)
• 元値: "beginning price" (original price paid by retailer).
• 元素： (chemical) element.