Where does “化け猫” come from?

化け猫 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 猫, from Old Japanese ねこ.

化け猫 (Japanese): a monster cat; a goblin cat; a cat with magical...

Definitions

  1. a monster cat; a goblin cat; a cat with magical...

Ancestry of “化け猫”, step by step

化け猫 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 猫

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese猫a cat
2Old Japaneseねこ—

via Japanese 化け

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese化けtransforming
Every word from Old Japanese ねこ →Every word from Japanese 猫 →