HSK 6 · Ideas

来历 láilì “origin” in Chinese

Traditional 來歷

What 来历 means

  1. origin
  2. background
  3. history
  4. antecedents

How to say 来历

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale来lái2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale历lì4th tone, falling

来历 in a sentence

  1. 这个节日的来历很有意思。

    Zhè ge jiérì de láilì hěn yǒuyìsi.

    The origins of this festival are very interesting.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 你知道这个名字的来历吗？

    Nǐ zhīdao zhè ge míngzi de láilì ma?

    Do you know where this name comes from?

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 来历 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 来 (lái) with each of its parts in a different colour
来láito come
  • 未part of the character
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā

Memory aidDrawn from a stalk of wheat. It was borrowed early on for “to come”.

The character 历 (lì) with each of its parts in a different colour
历lìcalendar
  • 厂cliff · hǎn
  • 力strength · lìSound part

厤 hints at the meaning (to calculate); 力 (lì) hints at the sound. Compare it with lì.

How to write 来历

来 7 strokes · 历 4 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

来历 (láilì) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 来历 (láilì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 来历

Words with 来

来lái · to come出来chūlái · to come out过来guòlái · to come over回来huílai · to return进来jìnlái · to come in上来shànglái · to come up下来xiàlai · to come down后来hòulái · afterwards起来qǐlai · beginning or continuing an action带来dàilái · to bring (about)

Words with 历

历史lìshǐ · history经历jīnglì · experience日历rìlì · calendar学历xuélì · educational background简历jiǎnlì · curriculum vitae (CV)历代lìdài · successive dynasties历来lìlái · always农历nónglì · lunar calendar

More words: Ideas & Concepts

考验kǎoyàn · to test空白kòngbái · blank框架kuàngjià · frame苦尽甘来kǔjìngānlái · after hardship comes happiness来源láiyuán · source良心liángxīn · conscience立场lìchǎng · position里程碑lǐchéngbēi · milestone

FAQs

来历 (láilì) means “origin” or “background”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it láilì: lái with a 2nd tone, then lì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 来历 is written 來歷. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type laili with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 来历 from the suggestions. Typing laili into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
来历 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.