Where does “最上級” come from?

最上級 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 最, from Proto-Indo-European sai-.

最上級 (Japanese): luxury

Definitions

  1. luxury

Ancestry of “最上級”, step by step

最上級 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 最

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese最most, greatest
2Proto-Indo-Europeansai-—

via Japanese 上級

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese上級superiority; upper class
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sai- →Every word from Japanese 最 →