来 (Rai) is a Japanese prefix meaning “next (year, spring, etc.), coming, since (e.g. last month), for (e.g. 20 years)”.
Meanings
- prefixnext (year, spring, etc.); coming
- suffixsince (e.g. last month); for (e.g. 20 years)
Examples
彼女は数ヶ月来はじめて悲しく思った。
She was sad for the first time in months.
来年末までで、ここで働き始めてどれくらいの期間になりますか。
How long will you have been working here by the end of next year?
Sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR).