The word 以来 is formed through the combination of two distinct characters, each contributing to its overall meaning. The first character, 以 (yǐ), originally depicted a tool or person and carries a fundamental sense of "to take" or "to use", here functioning to establish a basis or starting point. The second character, 来 (lái), is a pictograph of a wheat plant, chosen for its phonetic value to represent the meaning "to come". When combined, the literal concept is "taking [a point in time or event] as the basis, coming forward from it". This forms a directional and temporal unit where 以 sets the reference anchor and 来 indicates the subsequent period extending from that anchor toward the present, yielding the core meaning of "since" or "from a past point until now".