Where does “哺乳類” come from?

哺乳類 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 類 — kind, sort, type, the like.

哺乳類 (Japanese): mammals; mammalia

Definitions

  1. mammals; mammalia

Ancestry of “哺乳類”, step by step

哺乳類 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesekind, sort, type, the like

via Japanese 哺乳

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese哺乳lactation, nursing
Every word from Japanese
哺乳類 — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer