Where does “何時” come from?

何時 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 時, from Old Japanese 時, from Old Japanese しだ — a time, circumstance, occasion.

何時 (Japanese): what time, when

Definitions

  1. what time, when

Ancestry of “何時”, step by step

何時 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesetime; an event, case, occasion, moment; a...
2Old Japanesea time, moment (in time), occasion
3Old Japaneseしだa time, circumstance, occasion

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseWhat?, Huh?; what; that thing
Every word from Old Japanese しだEvery word from Old Japanese Every word from Japanese