來

Originally a pictograph of grain (especially wheat or barley) with drooping heads, representing ripened crops.

In earliest forms, 來 depicted stalks of wheat.

Because the Old Chinese word for “come” was phonetically close to the word for “wheat,” the character was borrowed (假借) to mean “to come.”

To disambiguate, a new graph 麥 (맥, “barley/wheat”) was later coined by adding 夂 under 來, leaving 來 to carry primarily the verbal sense “to come.”

Semantic range:

- to come, arrive (오다);

- future, afterward (이후, 앞날);

- to bring about, cause;

- sometimes used as a suffix in compounds to denote futurity or continuity.

來年 (내년) — next year

未來 (미래) — future

來日 (내일) — tomorrow; also “future days”

後來 (후래) — afterward, later on

來往 (내왕) — to come and go, association

以來 (이래) — since (a certain time)

In Confucian classics, 來 frequently marks future expectations or the continuity of ritual and virtue into later generations, emphasizing transmission from past to present to future.

In Daoist texts, 來 often embodies the natural unfolding of things yet to arrive, aligned with 無爲 (non-action) and trust in the flow of the Dao.

In Buddhist sutras, 來 is significant in expressions like 如來 (여래, “Thus Come One”), one of the titles of the Buddha, stressing the Buddha’s timeless presence: both having “come” into the world and being beyond coming and going.