来

láidictionary entry

to come / (used as a substitute for a more specific verb) / hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[huí lai]) / ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zì gǔ yǐ lái]) / for the past (amount of time) / (prefix) the coming ... / the next ... (as in 來世|来世[lái shì]) / (between two verbs) in order to / (after a round number) approximately / (used after 得[dé] to indicate possibility, as in 談得來|谈得来[tán de lái], or after 不[bù] to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不來|吃不来[chī bu lái])

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-2638ace7587a122c. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

來 来 [lai2] /to come/(used as a substitute for a more specific verb)/hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5])/ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3 yi3 lai2])/for the past (amount of time)/(prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 來世|来世[lai2 shi4])/(between two verbs) in order to/(after a round number) approximately/(used after 得[de2] to indicate possibility, as in 談得來|谈得来[tan2 de5 lai2], or after 不[bu4] to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不來|吃不来[chi1 bu5 lai2])/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

Other forms in these source records: 來

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.