Where does “大地震” come from?

大地震 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 大, from Old Japanese 大, from Proto-Japonic əpə — big, large; many.

大地震 (Japanese): a large earthquake; typically has a magnitude 7...

Definitions

  1. a large earthquake; typically has a magnitude 7...

Ancestry of “大地震”, step by step

大地震 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 大

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese大big, large; the large part of; arch-
2Old Japanese大big, large; large
3Proto-Japonicəpəbig, large; many

via Japanese 地震

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese地震an earthquake
2Japanese地earth, dirt; fabric, cloth; territory
3Middle Chinese地—
Every word from Proto-Japonic əpə →Every word from Old Japanese 大 →Every word from Japanese 大 →