Where does “例の” come from?

例の (Japanese) comes from Japanese の, from Old Japanese の, from Middle Chinese 能 — talent, ability.

例の (Japanese): the usual, the aforementioned, you-know-who

Definitions

  1. the usual, the aforementioned, you-know-who

Ancestry of “例の”, step by step

例の traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese の

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseのgenitive case marker; nominative case marker in a...
2Old Japaneseのplain, field
3Middle Chinese能talent, ability

via Japanese 例

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese例例; 例し; The most common reading is れい
Every word from Middle Chinese 能 →Every word from Old Japanese の →Every word from Japanese の →