Where does “一番” come from?

一番 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 一, from Japanese 始め, from Japanese 始める — begin; start; initiate; originate.

一番 (Japanese): first, number one; game, round; most, -est, -most

Definitions

  1. first, number one; game, round; most, -est, -most

Ancestry of “一番”, step by step

一番 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 一

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese一one, 1; "term relating to the number one"; unity
2Japanese始めbeginning, the start of an activity or time...
3Japanese始めるbegin; start; initiate; originate

via Japanese 番

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese番one's turn; -th: forms ordinal numerals

Words derived from “一番”

Every word from Japanese 始める →Every word from Japanese 始め →Every word from Japanese 一 →