Where does “人目に付く” come from?

人目に付く (Japanese) comes from Japanese 人目, from Japanese 目, from Middle Chinese 目.

人目に付く (Japanese): to be within others' sight; to be visible; to be conspicuous; to attract public attention; to come under observation

Definitions

  1. to be within others' sight; to be visible; to be conspicuous; to attract public attention; to come under observation

Ancestry of “人目に付く”, step by step

人目に付く traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 人目

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese人目an attention, observation, public notice
2Japanesean order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger...
3Middle Chinese

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseparticle for indirect objects; to; particle for...
2Old Japanese

via Japanese 付く

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese付くattach itself to, stick, stick to, adhere, adhere...
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Japanese Every word from Japanese 人目