Where does “一つ目小僧” come from?

一つ目小僧 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 小僧, from Japanese 小, from Old Japanese ささ.

一つ目小僧 (Japanese): one-eyed goblin, a Japanese monster

Definitions

  1. one-eyed goblin, a Japanese monster

Ancestry of “一つ目小僧”, step by step

一つ目小僧 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 小僧

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese小僧young/novice Buddhist monk; servant boy in a...
2Japanese小smallness; small size, small; Short for 小の月;...
3Old Japaneseささ—

via Japanese 一つ目

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese一つ目first, initial
Every word from Old Japanese ささ →Every word from Japanese 小 →Every word from Japanese 小僧 →