Where does “-san” come from?

-san (English) comes from Japanese さん, from Japanese 様, from Middle Chinese 樣.

-san (English): Honorific ending used to indicate a person is...

Definitions

  1. Honorific ending used to indicate a person is...

Ancestry of “-san”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseさんA title used after person's name regardless of...
2Japanese様way, style, appearance; be like, look like, seem...
3Middle Chinese樣—
Every word from Middle Chinese 樣 →Every word from Japanese 様 →Every word from Japanese さん →