来月
らいげつ · raigetsu · JLPT N5 · noun
calendar month
📅🌙 来月 = come (来) + month (月): the month that is coming
来 (rai) means come and 月 (getsu) means month or moon, so 来月 is literally the coming month. The same pattern gives 来週 (raishuu, next week) and 来年 (rainen, next year), so learning rai- once unlocks all three.
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).
月 — pictograph of crescent moon
月 is a pictograph of a crescent moon, chosen over a full circle to distinguish it from 日 (sun). The inner strokes originally depicted the moon's shadow or markings. As a radical it often relates to the moon, time, or (via a lookalike form of 肉 'flesh') body parts.