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来历 (lái lì) — origin, background, history (of a person or thing)

Definition

来历 is the 'origin or past history' of a specific person or thing (a person, company, artifact). Unlike 历史 ('history' as a field or broad past), 来历 zooms in on one item's background.

noun
originbackgroundhistory (of a person or thing)

Examples

  • 来历，。
    Zhè ge rén de lái lì hěn fù zá, shuí yě shuō bù qīng chǔ.
    This person's background is very complicated; nobody can explain it clearly.
  • 来历？
    Nǐ zhī dào zhè jiàn wén wù de lái lì ma?
    Do you know the origin of this cultural relic?
  • 来历。
    Tā men gōng sī de lái lì kě yǐ zhuī sù dào yì bǎi nián qián.
    The history of their company can be traced back one hundred years.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

来láisource
历lìhistory

“来” points to the source and “历” to the past history, together giving a person's or thing's origin.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 來; 来 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 來 shows a wheat plant: a central ear, upward leaves, and downward stem and roots. The simplified 来 is a later shorthand.

Open 来 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 歷; 历 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 历 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (简历, 经历) it is 歷; in others (日历) it is 曆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
厤
厤lì歷lì
Same sound today

The form 歷 pairs 止 with the sound part 厤.

Open 历 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract ConceptsHistory

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