Where does “小国” come from?

小国 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 国, from Old Japanese 国.

小国 (Japanese): small nation, small country, lesser power

Definitions

  1. small nation, small country, lesser power

Ancestry of “小国”, step by step

小国 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 国

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese国a land, a large place; a country in general, a...
2Old Japanese国—

via Japanese 小

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese小smallness; small size, small; Short for 小の月;...
2Old Japaneseささ—
Every word from Old Japanese 国 →Every word from Japanese 国 →
小国 — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer