Where does “北半球” come from?
北半球 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 半球, from Japanese 球, from Middle Chinese 毬.
北半球 (Japanese): the Northern Hemisphere
Ancestry of “北半球”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 半球 | a hemisphere |
| 2 | Japanese | 球 | sphere, globe, orb; pitch; vacuum tube, valve |
| 3 | Middle Chinese | 毬 | — |