Where does “二十日鼠” come from?

二十日鼠 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 二十日, from Japanese 日, from Old Japanese 日, from Proto-Japonic *pi — day, sun.

二十日鼠 (Japanese): "Mus musculus", the common house mouse

Definitions

  1. "Mus musculus", the common house mouse

Ancestry of “二十日鼠”, step by step

二十日鼠 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 二十日

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese二十日the twentieth day of the month; twenty days;...
2Japanese日Sunday
3Old Japanese日the sun; sunlight, sunshine; daytime, daylight
4Proto-Japonic*piday, sun

via Japanese 鼠

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese鼠a mouse or a rat; general term for members of...
2Japanesenezumi—
Every word from Proto-Japonic *pi →Every word from Old Japanese 日 →Every word from Japanese 日 →