Where does “介錯” come from?

介錯 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 介, from Middle Chinese 介.

介錯 (Japanese): decapitation of someone who performs harakiri (in order to ease their pain)

Definitions

  1. decapitation of someone who performs harakiri (in order to ease their pain)

Ancestry of “介錯”, step by step

介錯 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseto assist
2Middle Chinese

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Japanese
介錯 — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer