Where does “emoji” come from?

emoji (English) comes from Japanese 絵文字, from Japanese 絵, from Middle Chinese 繪.

emoji (English): A digital graphic icon with a unique code point...

Definitions

  1. A digital graphic icon with a unique code point...

Ancestry of “emoji”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese絵文字pictograph; emoji: emoticons that originated in...
2Japanese絵picture, painting; drawing, sketch
3Middle Chinese繪—

Words derived from “emoji”

Every word from Middle Chinese 繪 →Every word from Japanese 絵 →Every word from Japanese 絵文字 →