Where does “中小” come from?
中小 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 中, from Japanese 中今, from Japanese 今 — now; just now; soon.
中小 (Japanese): small to medium
Ancestry of “中小”, step by step
中小 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Japanese 中
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 中 | middle, medium; average; neither good nor poor;... |
| 2 | Japanese | 中今 | the present, as a privileged moment in eternity |
| 3 | Japanese | 今 | now; just now; soon |
via Japanese 小
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 小 | smallness; small size, small; Short for 小の月;... |
| 2 | Old Japanese | ささ | — |