Where does “不甲斐ない” come from?

不甲斐ない (Japanese) comes from Japanese 不, from Middle Chinese 不.

不甲斐ない (Japanese): good-for-nothing, disappointing, timid, shameful, useless

Definitions

  1. good-for-nothing, disappointing, timid, shameful, useless

Ancestry of “不甲斐ない”, step by step

不甲斐ない traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 不

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese不un-, non-, in-; bad, poor
2Middle Chinese不—

via Japanese 甲斐

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese甲斐value, reward, avail, being fruitful or worth...
Every word from Middle Chinese 不 →Every word from Japanese 不 →