Where does “Chu” come from?
Chu is an English word derived from Mandarin 楚, whose original meaning is unknown.
Chu (English): An ancient Chinese viscounty and kingdom of the Zhou dynasty (circa 1030–223) along the Yangtze River
Definitions
- An ancient Chinese viscounty and kingdom of the Zhou dynasty (circa 1030–223) along the Yangtze River
Ancestry of “Chu”, step by step
Chu traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English You
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | You | Honorific alternative letter-case form of you,... |
| 2 | Middle English | yow | Second-person plural object pronoun: you;... |
| 3 | Old English | ēow | Wo!, Alas!; sheep |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | iwwiz | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | izwiz | accusative/dative/instrumental of *jūz |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *jūz | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | túh₂ | you, thou |
via Japanese ちゅっ
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | ちゅっ | Representing a kissing sound |
via Chinese Mandarin 朱
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chinese Mandarin | 朱 | — |