Where does “ネコ目” come from?

ネコ目 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 目, from Middle Chinese 目.

ネコ目 (Japanese): Carnivora

Definitions

  1. Carnivora

Ancestry of “ネコ目”, step by step

ネコ目 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 猫

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese猫a cat
2Old Japaneseねこ—
Every word from Middle Chinese 目 →Every word from Japanese 目 →
ネコ目 — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer