Where does “déjà-vu” come from?
déjà-vu (French) comes from French VU, from Vietnamese vụ, from Chinese 務, from Sino-Tibetan *mow.
déjà-vu (French): déjà vu
Ancestry of “déjà-vu”, step by step
déjà-vu traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French VU
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | VU | given based on |
| 2 | Vietnamese | vụ | season; case, affair; specialized department... |
| 3 | Chinese | 務 | — |
| 4 | Sino-Tibetan | *mow | — |
via French déjà
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | déjà | already; again; for a start |
| 2 | Middle French | desia | already |
| 3 | Old French | des ja | — |
Words derived from “déjà-vu”