Where does “望遠鏡” come from?

望遠鏡 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 鏡 — a mirror.

望遠鏡 (Japanese): a telescope

Definitions

  1. a telescope

Ancestry of “望遠鏡”, step by step

望遠鏡 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesea mirror

via Japanese 望遠

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese望遠long-distance viewing
Every word from Japanese