來

See also: 来 and 徠

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Etymology

It is shaped like corn or wheat (similar to 禾), symbolizing the coming of the crops. Its ancient sound begins with "ml-". The meaning "come" was originally represented by 麥, adding a radical meaning "footprint" or "walk slowly". Their meanings have interchanged. M-remaining is 麥, l-remaining is 來.

Han character

來 (radical 9 人+6, 8 strokes, cangjie input 木人人 (DOO), four-corner 4090₈)

Descendants

• 来

References

• KangXi: page 101, character 16
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 581
• Dae Jaweon: page 214, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 141, character 8
• Unihan data for U+4F86

---

Chinese

		-
trad.		來
simp.		来

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lái (lai²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄞˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): loi⁴
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): lòi,lôi
• Min Nan (POJ): lâi
• Wu (WT Romanisation): le (T3)

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Beijing)⁺
    • Pinyin: lái
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄞˊ
    • Wade-Giles: lai²
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lai
    • IPA ^(key): /laɪ̯³⁵/

    • (file)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: loi⁴
    • Yale: lòih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: loi⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /lɔːi̯²¹/
• Hakka
  • Romanisations:
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: lòi,lôi
    • IPA (Siyen, incl. Miaoli): /lo̯i,lo̯i²⁴/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lâi
    • Tâi-lô: lâi
    • IPA (Taipei): /laɪ²³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /laɪ¹³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • WT Romanisation: le (T3)
    • IPA ^(key): /lᴇ²³/

Middle Chinese pronunciation (來, reconstructed)
Character (來), Pronunciation 1/1
Initial: 來 (37) Final: 咍 Division: I			Openness: Open Tone: Level (Ø)			Fanqie: 洛哀切
Zhengzhang Shangfang	Bernard Karlgren	Li Rong	Pan Wuyun	Edwin Pulleyblank	Wang Li	Shao Rongfen
/lʌi/	/lɑ̆i/	/lᴀi/	/ləi/	/ləj/	/lɒi/	/lɒi/

Old Chinese pronunciation (來, reconstructed)
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character								Modern Beijing (Pinyin)								Middle Chinese								Old Chinese								English
來								lái								‹ loj ›								/*mə.rˤək (> *mə.rˤə)/								a kind of wheat
來								lái								‹ loj ›								/*mə.rˤək (> *rˤə)/								come
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system: Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character					No.					Phonetic component					Rime group					Rime subdivision					Corresponding MC rime					Old Chinese					Notes
來					7598					來					之					0										/*m·rɯːɡ/

Definitions

1. used after a verb of motion to indicates movement away from the speaker
   • 下來 / 下来  ―  xiàlái  ―  to come down ( compare 下去 ("to go down") )
   • 進來 / 进来  ―  jìnlái  ―  to come in
2. (Beginning Mandarin) to come; to arrive

   • 我一會兒就來。 [MSC, trad.]

     我一会儿就来。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ yīhuìr jiù lái. [Pinyin]

     I' ll come in a moment.

   • 我不知道它是從哪裡來的。 [MSC, trad.]

     我不知道它是从哪里来的。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ bù zhīdào tā shì cóng nǎlǐ lái de. [Pinyin]

     I didn't know where it came from.

   • John 1.6

     有一個人，是從神那裡差來的，名叫約翰。 [MSC, trad.]

     有一个人，是从神那里差来的，名叫约翰。 [MSC, simp.]

     Yǒu yī ge rén, shì cóng shén nàlǐ chā lái de, míng jiào yuēhàn. [Pinyin]

     There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

3. to do (specific meaning depending on the context)
4. next; comming; future
   • 來年 / 来年  ―  lái nián  ―  next year
5. (after a number) about; approximately; around

Antonyms

• 去 to go; past, previous

Derived terms

• 來者不善，善者不來／来者不善，善者不来

See also

• (Cantonese) 嚟

Compounds

Derived terms

• 來不來／来不来

• 來不及／来不及

• 來不得／来不得

• 來世／来世

• 來之不易／来之不易

• 來人／来人

• 來今／来今

• 來件／来件

• 來使／来使

• 來信／来信

• 來到／来到

• 來勁／来劲

• 來勁兒／来劲儿

• 來勢／来势

• 來回／来回

• 來回來去／来回来去

• 來回票／来回票

• 來客／来客

• 來年／来年

• 來往／来往

• 來得／来得

• 來得及／来得及

• 來復／来复

• 來復槍／来复枪

• 來意／来意

• 來文／来文

• 來料加工／来料加工

• 來日／来日

• 來日方長／来日方长

• 來朝／来朝

• 來樣加工／来样加工

• 來歷／来历

• 來源／来源

• 來潮／来潮

• 來火／来火

• 來火兒／来火儿

• 來生／来生

• 來由／来由

• 來看／来看

• 來示／来示

• 來神／来神

• 來神兒／来神儿

• 來者／来者

• 來者不拒／来者不拒

• 來臨／来临

• 來自／来自

• 來著／来著

• 來說／来说

• 來講／来讲

• 來賓／来宾

• 來路／来路

• 來路貨／来路货

• 來蹤去跡／来踪去迹

• 來頭／来头

• 來頭兒／来头儿

• 來龍去脈／来龙去脉

---

Japanese

Kanji

來

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 来)

1. black

Usage notes

Not used in modern Japanese. The shinjitai character 来 is used instead.

Readings

• Goon: らい (rai)
• Kan’on: らい (rai)
• Kun: く-る (ku-ru), きた-る / き-たる (kita-ru / ki-taru)

Compounds

Compounds

招來 (しょうらい, shōrai) 來日 來月 來年 外來語 來世

來歴 來賓 來迎 來週

Etymology 1

From Sinitic 來.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): /ra.i/, [ɽäi]

Prefix

來 (hiragana らい, romaji rai-)

1. next, coming (week, year, etc.)

   來 (らい)年 (ねん)、來 (らい)週 (しゅう)

   rainen, raishū

   next year, next week

   來 (らい)週月曜日 (しゅうげつようび)に会 (あ)いましょう。

   Raishū getsuyōbi ni aimashō.

   Let's meet Monday next. / Let's meet this coming Monday.

Suffix

來 (hiragana らい, romaji -rai)

1. since, in (a span of time)

   三年 (さんねん)來 (らい)あれを見 (み)ていない。

   san nen rai are o mite inai.

   I haven't seen that in three years / since three years ago.

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese. The verb ku is one of the few monosyllabic verb roots in Japanese. This developed into kuru in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): /ku/, [kɯᵝ]

Verb

來 (irregular conjugation, hiragana く, romaji ku)

1. (obsolete) to approach ones position from a remote location: to come

   Developed into 来る (くる, kuru) in modern Japanese.

---

Korean

Hanja

來 (rae>nae) (hangeul 래>내, revised rae>nae, McCune-Reischauer rae>nae, Yale lay>nay)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

---

Vietnamese

Han character

來 (lai, lay, lơi, ray, rơi, rời)

1. This entry needs a definition. Please add one, then remove {{defn}}.

References

• Nom Foundation