Where does “何十” come from?

何十 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 十, from Middle Chinese 十.

何十 (Japanese): several tens

Definitions

  1. several tens

Ancestry of “何十”, step by step

何十 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 十

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese十ten, 10; a ten-year-old
2Middle Chinese十—

via Japanese 何

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese何What?, Huh?; what; that thing
Every word from Middle Chinese 十 →Every word from Japanese 十 →