Where does “人目を引く” come from?
人目を引く (Japanese) comes from Japanese 人目, from Japanese 目, from Middle Chinese 目.
人目を引く (Japanese): to grab attention; to attract notice; to be eye-catching
Definitions
- to grab attention; to attract notice; to be eye-catching
Ancestry of “人目を引く”, step by step
人目を引く traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Japanese 人目
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 人目 | an attention, observation, public notice |
| 2 | Japanese | 目 | an order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger... |
| 3 | Middle Chinese | 目 | — |
via Japanese を
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | を | A case particle; A conjunctive particle, usually... |
| 2 | Proto-Japonic | wo | accusative marker; away from, off |
via Japanese 引く
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 引く | to pull (something toward oneself) |