Where does “haiku” come from?
Haiku comes from Japanese 俳句, ultimately from Middle Chinese 俳, a word for comic or theatrical performance.
haiku (English): A Japanese poem in three lines, the first and...
Definitions
- A Japanese poem in three lines, the first and...
Ancestry of “haiku”, step by step
haiku traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Hawaiian Haʻikū
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaiian | Haʻikū | — |
| 2 | Hawaiian | Kū | one of the four major gods; the god of war |
| 3 | English | stew | A cooking-dish used for boiling; a cauldron; A... |
| 4 | English | steward | A person who manages the property or affairs for... |
| 5 | Middle English | steward | The administrator of a household or estate especially noble or monarchical |
| 6 | Old English | stiġweard | steward |
| 7 | Old English | weard | guard; guard, the action of looking out for... |
| 8 | Old English | ōra | ore, unwrought metal |
| 9 | Old English | ēar | sea, ocean; grave, earth |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | ahaz | ear |
| 11 | Proto-Finnic | ahtas | narrow, cramped |
| 12 | Proto-Baltic | anśtas | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énǵʰus | narrow, tight |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂enǵʰ- | to constrict, tighten, compress; narrow, tight;... |