来历
lái lì · HSK 7
origin
📜 来历 = 来 (come) + 历 (history/calendar) → where a thing came from
来 means come and 历 means to pass through or history. Together they name the trail of where something or someone came from: its origin and antecedents.
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).