Where does “八目鰻” come from?

八目鰻 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 鰻, from Old Japanese むなぎ, from Proto-Japonic unanki — eel.

八目鰻 (Japanese): a lamprey

Definitions

  1. a lamprey

Ancestry of “八目鰻”, step by step

八目鰻 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesean eel; eel, especially the Japanese eel;...
2Old Japaneseむなぎ
3Proto-Japonicunankieel

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesean order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger...
2Middle Chinese

via Japanese 八つ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese八つeight things [small or without a counter category]
Every word from Proto-Japonic unankiEvery word from Old Japanese むなぎEvery word from Japanese
八目鰻 — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer