Where does “お年玉” come from?

お年玉 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 年, from Middle Chinese 年, from Middle Chinese 代.

お年玉 (Japanese): a red envelope

Definitions

  1. a red envelope

Ancestry of “お年玉”, step by step

お年玉 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 年

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese年a year; a grade, a school year; grain,...
2Middle Chinese年—
3Middle Chinese代—

via Japanese 御

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese御"indicates that the is honorific"; often used to...
2Middle Chinese御—

via Japanese 玉

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese玉"any spherical or similarly-rounded object"; a...
2Middle Chinese玉—
Every word from Middle Chinese 代 →Every word from Middle Chinese 年 →Every word from Japanese 年 →