Where does “小人” come from?

小人 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 人, from Proto-Japonic *pitə — one.

小人 (Japanese): child, small person; dwarf; narrow-minded person,...

Definitions

  1. child, small person; dwarf; narrow-minded person,...

Ancestry of “小人”, step by step

小人 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 人

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese人a person, human; an individual; mankind, people
2Proto-Japonic*pitəone

via Japanese 小

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese小smallness; small size, small; Short for 小の月;...
2Old Japaneseささ—

Words derived from “小人”

Every word from Proto-Japonic *pitə →Every word from Japanese 人 →