Where does “サル目” come from?

サル目 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 目, from Middle Chinese 目.

サル目 (Japanese): Primates

Definitions

  1. Primates

Ancestry of “サル目”, step by step

サル目 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 目

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese目an order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger...
2Middle Chinese目—

via Japanese 猿

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese猿a monkey; Short for 日本猿; an ape
2Chinese猿ape
Every word from Middle Chinese 目 →Every word from Japanese 目 →