Where does “北極熊” come from?

北極熊 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 熊, from Old Japanese くま, from Old Korean 고마 — bear.

北極熊 (Japanese): a polar bear

Definitions

  1. a polar bear

Ancestry of “北極熊”, step by step

北極熊 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 熊

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese熊a bear; a bear, an otter
2Old Japaneseくま—
3Old Korean고마bear

via Japanese 北極

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese北極Short for 北極圏. north polar region, north pole;...
Every word from Old Korean 고마 →Every word from Old Japanese くま →Every word from Japanese 熊 →