Where does “午時” come from?

午時 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 午, from Japanese 馬, from Middle Chinese 馬.

午時 (Japanese): the hour of the Horse, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m

Definitions

  1. the hour of the Horse, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m

Ancestry of “午時”, step by step

午時 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 午

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese午noon; the {{w|Ox |Chinese zodiac Ox}}
2Japanese馬a horse; a promoted bishop; a sawhorse: a...
3Middle Chinese馬—

via Japanese 時

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese時time; an event, case, occasion, moment; a...
2Old Japanese時a time, moment (in time), occasion
3Old Japaneseしだa time, circumstance, occasion
Every word from Middle Chinese 馬 →Every word from Japanese 馬 →Every word from Japanese 午 →