Where does “地下室” come from?

地下室 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 地下, from Japanese 地, from Middle Chinese 地.

地下室 (Japanese): basement, cellar

Definitions

  1. basement, cellar

Ancestry of “地下室”, step by step

地下室 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 地下

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese地下underground; subterranean
2Japanese地earth, dirt; fabric, cloth; territory
3Middle Chinese地—

via Japanese 室

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese室room
2Middle Chinese室—
Every word from Middle Chinese 地 →Every word from Japanese 地 →Every word from Japanese 地下 →