莱

萊

lái

来 + 艹

Definitions

lái (noun) goosefoot; pigweed (Chenopodium album)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 来 represents the sound. Simplified form of 萊.

Semantic: 艹 Phonetic: 来

About

莱 is a phono-semantic compound derived from the traditional 萊. The upper component 艹, the 'grass' radical, assigns it to the plant category, while the lower component 来 (originally 來) indicates the pronunciation. Historically, the character denoted goosefoot, a wild weed that grew profusely in uncultivated fields, and its meaning eventually broadened to include fallow land choked with such vegetation. The modern simplified form retains 艹 but uses 来, and is now encountered almost exclusively in phonetic transcriptions of foreign names and places, having shed its original botanical sense.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这是著名的莱茵河。

Zhè shì zhùmíng de Láiyīn Hé.

This is the famous Rhine River.

莱昂是我的好朋友。

Lái'áng shì wǒ de hǎo péngyou.

Leon is my good friend.

我们去蓬莱旅游吧。

Wǒmen qù Pénglái lǚyóu ba.

Let's travel to Penglai.

莱卡相机非常昂贵。

Láikǎ xiàngjī fēicháng ángguì.

Leica cameras are very expensive.

莱芜的经济发展很快。

Láiwú de jīngjì fāzhǎn hěn kuài.

The economic development of Laiwu is very fast.

莱茵河是欧洲的重要河流。

Láiyīn Hé shì Ōuzhōu de zhòngyào héliú.

The Rhine River is an important river in Europe.

我听说蓬莱是个美丽的地方。

Wǒ tīngshuō Pénglái shì gè měilì de dìfāng.

I heard that Penglai is a beautiful place.

莱昂纳多主演了许多精彩电影。

Lái'ángnàduō zhǔyǎn le xǔduō jīngcǎi diànyǐng.

Leonardo starred in many wonderful movies.

Related Characters

Component: 来

Component: 艹

莱