来 lái — come, wheat · English

来

lái

come, wheat

At a glance · 来

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form、seal script form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

来字甲骨文象小麦之形，本义为麦；后借为来往之来。金文、小篆承其形，隶变作『来』。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

来本义为麦类作物，假借为来去之来。

Structure

来为象形字，描摹麦株；其『来去』义为假借用法。

At a glance

Pinyinlái

Radical木

Strokes7

UnicodeU+6765

Character type象形

Theme植物

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English come, wheat Lai was originally a pictograph of wheat and was borrowed to mean come and go.

Français venir, blé Lai était à l'origine un pictogramme du blé et a été emprunté pour signifier venir et aller.

Español venir, trigo Lai era originalmente un pictograma del trigo y se tomó prestado para significar venir y ir.

العربية يأتي، قمح لاي كان في الأصل رسماً للقمح ثم استعير ليعني المجيء والذهاب.

Русский приходить, пшеница Лай изначально был пиктограммой пшеницы и был заимствован для значения приходить.

Common words

来去lái qùcome and go
将来jiāng láifuture

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