Where does “日本” come from?

日本 (Chinese) comes from Japanese 日本, from Japanese 日, from Old Japanese 日, from Proto-Japonic *pi — day, sun.

Ancestry of “日本”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese日本{{l|en|Japan}}; Japan
2JapaneseSunday
3Old Japanesethe sun; sunlight, sunshine; daytime, daylight
4Proto-Japonic*piday, sun

Words derived from “日本

Every word from Proto-Japonic *piEvery word from Old Japanese Every word from Japanese
日本 — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer