来
lái · HSK 1
to come
🌾 Oracle bone pictograph of a wheat plant; 'wheat' was borrowed for the verb 'to come'
来 originally depicted ripe wheat with hanging grains. Ancient Chinese reused the wheat character for the homophone meaning 'to come', and a new character (麥/麦) was later coined for wheat itself.
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).