Where does “hentai” come from?
hentai (English) comes from Japanese 変態, from Japanese 変, from Middle Chinese 變.
Ancestry of “hentai”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 変態 | metamorphosis, transformation; abnormality;... |
| 2 | Japanese | 変 | a change |
| 3 | Middle Chinese | 變 | — |