Chinese symbol for “come”
The closest CC-CEDICT match for come is 来 (lái), defined as: to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回来 (huí lai)); ever since (as in 自古以来 (zì gǔ yǐ lái)); for the past (amount of time); (prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 来世 (lái shì)).
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “come”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 前来 (前來) | qián lái | to come (formal); before |
| 来到 (來到) | lái dào | to arrive; to come |
| 降临 (降臨) | jiàng lín | to descend; to arrive |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 来.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 起来 (起來) | qǐ lai | to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2] |
| 出来 (出來) | chū lái | to come out; to appear |
| 来自 (來自) | lái zì | to come from (a place); From: (in email header) |
| 以来 (以來) | yǐ lái | since (used after a specified time or event) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “come”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.