Where does “下士官” come from?

下士官 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 士官, from Japanese 官, from Middle Chinese かん.

下士官 (Japanese): a non-commissioned officer

Definitions

  1. a non-commissioned officer

Ancestry of “下士官”, step by step

下士官 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 士官

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese士官a commissioned officer
2Japanese官government office; authority; government...
3Middle Chineseかん—

via Japanese 下

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese下the below; the lower portion, end; low in degree...
2Middle Chinese下—
Every word from Middle Chinese かん →Every word from Japanese 官 →Every word from Japanese 士官 →