以来
yǐlái · HSK 3
since
⏳ 以来 = yǐ (from) + lái (come) — 'from then come up to now'
以 means 'from/by' and 来 means 'come', so 以来 literally reads 'from-come' — the stretch of time coming from a past point up to the present. Used after a time word: 自2020年以来 = since 2020.
以 — phonetic 㠯 (plow/tool) + 人 (person)
Originally a pictograph of a hand-held plow or tool (㠯), later combined with 人 (person) to suggest 'using' something. The core meaning 'to use' extended metaphorically to 'by means of', 'with', and 'because of'. In modern Chinese it functions mainly as a grammatical particle.
来 — pictograph of a wheat plant with grain heads
来 originally depicted a stalk of wheat with drooping grain heads, and meant 'wheat' in oracle bone script. It was later borrowed phonetically to write the unrelated verb 'to come,' which became its dominant meaning. The original 'wheat' sense was taken over by 麥 (now 麦).