Where does “一” come from?

一 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 始め, from Japanese 始める — begin; start; initiate; originate.

一 (Japanese): one, 1; "term relating to the number one"; unity

Definitions

  1. one, 1; "term relating to the number one"; unity

Ancestry of “一”, step by step

一 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 始め

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese始めbeginning, the start of an activity or time...
2Japanese始めるbegin; start; initiate; originate

via Old Japanese 一

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Japanese一—
2Proto-Japonic*pitəone

via Middle Chinese 一

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Chinese一—

Words derived from “一”

Every word from Japanese 始める →Every word from Japanese 始め →