Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [etymology]

語源. The study of the origin of words and the historical development of their meanings. Sometimes used for kanji as well; we currently don't have a separate tag for character origins.

The origin of words and the historical development of their meanings.

Related tags


  • For questions about the historical development not of a particular word, but of some other aspect of the Japanese language.

See also

  • gogen-allguide.com (Japanese), a website with etymologies of Japanese word and expressions
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How did 面白い end up meaning "Interesting"?

面 by itself means "face", while 白 by itself means "white". How did these two words combine together to mean "interesting"?
小太郎
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What is the etymology behind る in 日{ひ}/昼{ひる} and 夜{よ}/夜{よる}?

I noticed that there is this る coming up in 日{ひ}→昼{ひる} and 夜{よ}→夜{よる}. I haven't seen ひる and よる used a lot in Classical Japanese, so ひ and よ probably came first. What is the role of this る? Does it have a meaning, or is it simply a…
ithisa
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The etymology of 助っ人

Recently I came across the word 助っ人, surprised to find out its reading was "すけっと." Does its etymology have something to do with 助ける【たすける】 and 人【ひと】? If so, why the disappearance of た, ひ, and the addition of 促音?
NoNames
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Where does です come from?

I've heard various things about this construction from many different people, a few examples of which are: It's a verb meaning "to be". It's a contraction of something like でございます (de gozaimasu) or ではあります (de wa arimasu). It just kinda appeared as…
Joe Z.
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Why do we say 頼もしい instead of 頼ましい?

In a previous question, I posted a list of adjectives produced from verbs using the しい suffix. In each example, it seems that しい attaches directly to the 未然形: 勇む　　→　　勇ま　＋　しい　　　 isam-a-sii 悩む　　→　　悩ま　＋　しい　　　 nayam-a-sii 喜ぶ　　→　　喜ば　＋　しい　　　…
user1478
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What do the parts of じゃんけんぽん mean?

I imagine that in じゃんけんぽん, けん corresponds to 拳 which I interpret as "fist" which is "rock". Do じゃん and ぽん correspond to "scissors" and "paper" ? If not, then do the individual parts of じゃん, けん and ぽん mean anything on their own or are they derived…
Flaw
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Etymology of ひざまずく

I can't resist trying to find patterns in words. These three words, for example, seem to fit a similar pattern: 頷{うなづ}く　= [項]{うな} + 突{つ}く (source: community wiki) 躓{つまづ}く　= [爪]{つま} + 突{つ}く (source: community wiki) 額{ぬか}づく　= [額]{ぬか} + 突{つ}く…
user1478
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Why are wisdom teeth called 親知らず in Japanese?

Why are wisdom teeth called 親知{おやし}らず in Japanese? The literal meaning seems to be something like "unknown to the parents".
MatthewD
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私 Origin / Etymology?

I'm taking a beginners Japanese course, and I heard that Japanese Kanji originated from the Chinese writing system, which is the reason for so many similarities. However, the Japanese Kanji for "I" (私) is very different from the Chinese character…
woojoo666
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What is the etymology of 一人前?

I found this word today, and I thought it was pretty interesting. I read it in the context of "becoming and adult", or "coming of age", but I'd like to know the etymology of it. I could only find definitions for the word itself, not its origins. At…
silvermaple
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Why does 丈夫 and 大丈夫 mean what they mean?

Looking at the individual kanji according to a dictionary: 丈 means height, stature, length 夫 means husband, man 大 means big, great They seem unrelated to what these words using the kanji mean: 丈夫 means healthy, strong 大丈夫 means safe, all right,…
小太郎
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Where does the word 青年 come from?

I know the word 少年 means boy or lad, and it is composed by the kanjis for few (少) and year (年), so it makes sense for me to associate boy with few years. In the other hand, 青年 means young man (usually refering to young adults as far as I know), but…
Roäc
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Where does the exclamation せ〜の come from?

I note that the exclamation せ〜の is quite frequently used, in a manner similar to how we use "ready, go!" in English. I'm curious about its etymology: where does せ〜の come from?
xuq01
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Where does the いかない in ～わけにはいかない come from?

My first thought is that いかない in this phrase conveys the meaning of 行かない, that is, not progressing to something. But this is mere guesswork. What is the history of いかない in ~わけにはいかない? Does it have roots in the verb 行く or is this way off base?
phirru
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What's the etymology of 負けず嫌い?

It seems strange to me that 負{ま}けず嫌{ぎら}い means "hate losing" and not "hate not losing". (食わず嫌い for example seems to mean "hate a food without trying it".) Providing credible sources if possible, what is the etymology of 負けず嫌い? Is there any…
cypher
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