原来 (yuán lái)

original; former; originally; formerly; at first; so, actually, as it

Character breakdown

原 (Yuán) · 10 strokes

Depicts water coming from a spring (泉) on a cliff (厂).
来 (lái) · 7 strokes

Simplified form of 來. Pictograph of a stalk of wheat. The current meaning "come" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "wheat" is now written as 麥.