Where does “グラビアアイドル” come from?

グラビアアイドル (Japanese) comes from Japanese アイドル, from English idle, from Middle English idel, from Old English īdel, from Proto-West Germanic *īdl — void, empty, ineffective.

グラビアアイドル (Japanese): A pin-up girl, a (generally young) woman featured in sexy or alluring photographs or other images. Often pictured in a bikini or similarly revealing costume, but not nude

Definitions

  1. A pin-up girl, a (generally young) woman featured in sexy or alluring photographs or other images. Often pictured in a bikini or similarly revealing costume, but not nude

Ancestry of “グラビアアイドル”, step by step

グラビアアイドル traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese アイドル

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseアイドルidol; popular person
2EnglishidleEmpty, vacant; Not being used appropriately; not...
3Middle Englishidel
4Old Englishīdelempty, void; bereft
5Proto-West Germanic*īdlvoid, empty, ineffective

via Japanese グラビア

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseグラビアrotogravure
2EnglishgravureA type of intaglio printing process, in which an...
3EnglishrotogravureA printing process by which the paper is rolled...
4GermanRotogravur
Every word from Proto-West Germanic *īdlEvery word from Old English īdelEvery word from Middle English idel