Where does “大天使” come from?

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

大天使 (Japanese): an archangel

Definitions

  1. an archangel

Ancestry of “大天使”, step by step

大天使 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 天使

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese天使an angel; an imperial messenger or envoy; a...
2Middle Chinese天使—
Every word from Proto-Japonic əpə →Every word from Old Japanese 大 →Every word from Japanese 大 →