Where does “断る” come from?

断る (Japanese) comes from Japanese 言, from Middle Chinese 言.

断る (Japanese): to refuse, to reject, to turn down; to announce...

Definitions

  1. to refuse, to reject, to turn down; to announce...

Ancestry of “断る”, step by step

断る traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 言

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese言word; parole
2Middle Chinese言—

via Japanese 割る

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese割るbreak; split; cut; separate
Every word from Middle Chinese 言 →Every word from Japanese 言 →