The word 从来 is formed through the conceptual blending of its two constituent characters: 从 (cóng), which carries the core meaning of "to follow" or "from", and 来 (lái), meaning "to come". When combined, they create a composite idea of something that "follows from the coming", or more abstractly, traces a continuous path from the point of origin up to the present. This fusion metaphorically constructs a sense of an unbroken temporal sequence stretching from the past onward, yielding the holistic meaning of "all along" or "always".