Kilo Lingo

(lái zì) - to come from, to originate from in Mandarin

lái

Traditional: 來自

Line drawing of 来自
Coloured illustration of 来自
HSK 4
#674 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

to come from, to originate from

Word origin

来自 means to come from. 来 (lái) is to come (originally a wheat pictograph). 自 (zì) means from, or oneself, and is a pictograph of a nose, the part one points to when referring to oneself.

Origin
compound
Root
来 (lái, to come) + 自 (zì, from; nose pictograph)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 来

Stroke order for 自

Examples

I come from Britain.

He comes from an ordinary family.

This idea came from my teacher.

fēng

This letter comes from London.

tóng

This story comes from his childhood.

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This word is part of lesson 14.