Where does “市長” come from?

市長 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 長, from Middle Chinese 長.

市長 (Japanese): a mayor

Definitions

  1. a mayor

Ancestry of “市長”, step by step

市長 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 長

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese長chief, head, leader; strong point; major
2Middle Chinese長—

via Japanese 市

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese市market; city
2Old Japanese市—
Every word from Middle Chinese 長 →Every word from Japanese 長 →