Where does “夷” come from?

夷 (Japanese) comes from Old Japanese 蝦夷 — an ancient ethnic group that once lived on...

夷 (Japanese): an ancient ethnic group attested in the Nihon Shoki that once lived on what is now the Kantō, Hokuriku and Tōhoku regions, likely as far as Hokkaido, possibly related to the Ainu people; dubbed "barbarians" or "savages" by the Yamato

Definitions

  1. an ancient ethnic group attested in the Nihon Shoki that once lived on what is now the Kantō, Hokuriku and Tōhoku regions, likely as far as Hokkaido, possibly related to the Ainu people; dubbed "barbarians" or "savages" by the Yamato

Ancestry of “夷”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Japanese蝦夷an ancient ethnic group that once lived on...
Every word from Old Japanese 蝦夷 →