歷來

简 历来 · 繁 歷來
Mandarin · pinyin lì lái

Meanings

  1. always
  2. throughout (a period of time)
  3. (of) all-time
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Characters in this entry

歷
Look up this written character
來
lái · come, coming; return, returning
历
lì · history; calendar
来
lái · come, coming; return, returning
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2 · li4 lai2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

歷來 · find source passages ↗ · 历来 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lik6 loi4

Cantonese word readings for 歷來. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

adv

  1. always; constantly; all through the ages

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack