来

See also: 來

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

simpl.		来
trad.		來

Etymology

Simplified from 來 – fruit hanging on a tree 木, the coming of harvest; alternatively, ear of grain, as in 禾. Meaning of “come” influenced by derived character 麥.

Han character

来 (radical 75 木+3, 7 strokes, cangjie input 木廿 (DT), composition ⿻未丷)

1. come, coming
2. return, returning

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 513, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14489
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 21, character 9
• Unihan data for U+6765

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Cantonese

Hanzi

来 (traditional 來, Jyutping loi4, Yale loi4)

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Japanese

Kanji

来

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. to come

Readings

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

Compounds

Compounds

招来 (しょうらい, shōrai) 来日 来月 来年 外来語 来世

来歴 来賓 来迎 来週

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term

来

らい Grade: 2

on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 來 (*ləi). Compare modern Mandarin traditional 來 and simplified 来 (lái).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ɺ̠a̠i]

Prefix

来 (hiragana らい, romaji rai-)

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

   来 (らい)年 (ねん)、来 (らい)週 (しゅう)

   rainen, raishū

   next year, next week

   来 (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.

Proper noun

来 (hiragana らい, romaji Rai)

1. A surname​.

Suffix

来 (hiragana らい, romaji -rai)

1. since, in (a span of time)

   三年 (さんねん)来 (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

Kanji in this term

来

く Grade: 2

kun'yomi

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): [kɯᵝ]

Verb

来 (irregular conjugation, hiragana く, romaji ku)

1. (obsolete) to approach one's position from a remote location: to come

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

References

• 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
• 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9

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Mandarin

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Hanzi

来 (traditional 來, Pinyin lái (lai2), Wade-Giles lai²)

1. • John 1.6

     有一个人，是从神那里差来的，名叫约翰。

     Yǒu yīge rén, shì cóng Shén nàli chāi lái de, míngjiào John.

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

Compounds

来宾 来不得 来不及 来不来 来潮 来到 来得 来得及 来复 来复枪 来回 来回来去 来回票 来火, 来火儿 来件 …来讲 来今

来劲, 来劲儿 …来看 来客 来历 来料加工 来临 来龙去脉 来路 来路货 来年 来人 来日 来日方长 来神, 来神儿 来生 来使 来世

来示 来势 …来说 来头, 来头儿 来往 来文 来信 来样加工 来意 来由 来源 来朝 来者 来者不拒 来着 来之不易 来自 来踪去迹

Verb

来 (simplified, Pinyin lái, traditional 來)

1. to come; to arrive

Phrase

• 来者不善，善者不来