来源
láiyuán · HSK 4
origin
💧 来源 = come + source; where something comes from
来 (lái) means 'to come' and 源 (yuán) means 'source' or 'spring of water'. Together they name the origin or wellspring something flows from — a person's income, a rumour, a river.
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).