来路不明 (lái lù bù míng) — of unknown or questionable origin; unidentifiable provenance

Definition

A fixed set phrase meaning 'of unknown / questionable origin' — typically applied to people, goods, or materials to suggest something suspect or unreliable.

verb
of unknown or questionable originunidentifiable provenance

Examples

  • 来路不明，。
    Zhè pī huò lái lù bù míng, wǒ men zuì hǎo bú yào shōu.
    This batch of goods has an unknown origin — we'd better not accept it.
  • 来路不明。
    Jǐng fāng zhèng zài diào chá nà ge lái lù bù míng de rén.
    The police are investigating that person of questionable origin.
  • 来路不明，。
    Nǐ yòng de cái liào lái lù bù míng, kě néng huì yǐng xiǎng chǎn pǐn zhì liàng.
    The materials you're using have an unknown origin and may affect product quality.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
足足zú
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè路lù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

路 combines 足, a foot, with 各, which supplies the sound.

Open 路 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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