Where does “マテガイ” come from?

マテガイ (Japanese) comes from Japanese 貝, from Old Japanese かい.

マテガイ (Japanese): a razor clam, more specifically Gould's razor...

Definitions

  1. a razor clam, more specifically Gould's razor...

Ancestry of “マテガイ”, step by step

マテガイ traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 貝

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese貝a shellfish
2Old Japaneseかい—

via Japanese 真手

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese真手both hands together
Every word from Old Japanese かい →Every word from Japanese 貝 →