The word 本来 is formed by combining two characters that each contribute a core conceptual idea: 本, which originally depicted the root of a tree and means "root", "origin", or "fundamental", and 来, which pictographically represented wheat and came to mean "to come" or "to arrive". Together, they create a compound whose literal sense is "from the root onward", evoking the idea of something's original, inherent, or initial state from which things proceed or develop.