Where does “大鷺” come from?

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

大鷺 (Japanese): great egret, Ardea alba

Definitions

  1. great egret, Ardea alba

Ancestry of “大鷺”, step by step

大鷺 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

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

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseheron; egret
Every word from Proto-Japonic əpəEvery word from Old Japanese Every word from Japanese
大鷺 — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer