An adverb meaning 'from the start' or 'originally', indicating that something was that way from the beginning.
彼は元から几帳面な性格だ。
He has been meticulous from the start.
この機械は元から欠陥があったらしい。
It seems this machine had a defect from the beginning.
元からそうするつもりだったから、驚かなかった。
I wasn't surprised because I had intended to do that from the start.
彼女は元から料理が得意ではない。
She has not been good at cooking from the beginning.