Zi:来

From Wenlin Dictionaries

(F​) [lái] come; ​来 future; ​来 it turns out; ​来 it seems; (​) 来​ wheat and barley [lai] ​来 get up [lài] cf. ​

One monosyllabic entry in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):

¹lái* [​] {A} v.come; arriveDào zhèbiān(r) ∼. 到这边(儿)∼。 Come over here.crop up; take placebringdo (specific meaning depending on context)Ràng wǒ ∼. 让我∼。 Let me do it.∼ diǎnr chī de. ∼点儿吃的。 Bring sth. to eat.suf.abilityzuòbu∼ 作不∼ don't know how to do itworthwhile effort/expensehuáde∼ 划得∼ worth the moneybeginning of an actiontíqị̌ bǐ ∼ 提起笔∼ pick up a pen to writehypothetical actionxiǎng∼/shuō∼ hǎoxiào 想∼/说∼好笑 funny to think/speak of-ly (after numerals)yī∼ 一∼ firstlyèr∼ 二∼ secondlytime (since)duō nián ∼ 多年∼ for many yearsb.f.future; later ►jiānglái 将来 ►hòulái 后来coming ►láilín 来临since ►shēnglái 生来 ►běnlái 本来adv. over; and moresānshí ∼ suì 三十∼岁 over 30 years oldconj. (in order) tochàng ge gēr ∼ còu rènao 唱个歌儿∼凑热闹 sing a song to liven thingscons.V ∼ V qù V back and forthzǒu∼zǒuqù 走∼走去 walk back and forthwǒ(men) ∼ V let me/us V{D} cóng A ∼ jiǎng/kàn/shuō speaking/viewing/speaking from consideration of Acóng wǒ ∼ shuō, ... 从我∼说, … in my view, ... See also láizhe

6765.png
The simple-form character 来 (7 strokes) is an abbrev. of the full-form character ​ (8 strokes), replacing the full-form component ​𠓜 (4 strokes) with ​ (3 strokes).
    The Shuōwén Seal form of 来/​ lái ‘wheat’ (​) is said to depict a wheat plant with ​𠓜 liǎng (​) two/multiple/abundant ​/​ spikes/ears of grain; the roots are like ​ or ​, but the branches droop down (heavy with ears of grain); formerly also wr. ​𥟂/​(​𪎂) lái ‘wheat’.
    Note: 来/​ lái ‘come/arrive; not yet come; future’ is an old usage said to derive from storing part of the grain harvest to serve as seed for coming/future (multiple/ongoing) plantings/harvests (​ ‘use/plant seed to provide for the future’); later also wr. ​/​ (​来/​), cf. ​ lái ‘introspect/introspection’.
    Note: The form ​𥟂/​(​𪎂) lái ‘wheat’ was created to distinguish the old ​ ‘wheat’ usage from the ​ lái ‘come/future’ usage (cf. obs. ​ ‘come’), but since the ‘wheat’ usage is largely obsolete except in the word 来​/​ ‘wheat/barley’ (​𥟂/来​/​), the augmented forms ​𥟂/​ are rarely seen; cf. ​, which refers to both wheat and barley.
    Compare: ​/​ mài ‘wheat; barley; rye; oats’; 来​/​ láimóu ‘wheat/barley’; ​ xiǎomài ‘wheat’, ​ dàmài ‘barley’.
    Compare: ​/​(​𣍈) fēng ‘abundant harvest’, in which ​(​𡴀) fēng is doubled.
    Note: As a verb and grammatical function word, 来/​ has a wide range of usages, referring not only to future, but also original/former/past times (come down to the present).
    Compare: 来/​ lái ‘come/arrive; not yet come; future; do; give’; ​来 ‘future’; ​来 ‘originally’, ​ ‘formerly’; ​来 ‘it seems (comes to be seen)’; ​来​ ‘it's a long story’.
►references: Wieger:13c; Karlgren:AD511; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.21.9; Lindqvist:350; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:047.0.02; Wáng(1993):44; EDOC:0
►components:
►Cantonese: loih\
►stroke 来 (... strokes)   
►list characters containing 来 as a component
►list words containing 来 (most common words first)
Unicode: U+6765
►web links for ‘来’
search web for ‘来’: ►Google ►GT ►Baidu ►Bing ►Yahoo


The Wenlin Zidian (namespace Zi)
URL: https://wenlin.co/wow/Zi:%E6%9D%A5
Refresh this page