Where does “極めて” come from?

極めて (Japanese) comes from Japanese 極める, from Japanese 極む, from Japanese む, from Middle Chinese 無.

極めて (Japanese): exceedingly

Definitions

  1. exceedingly

Ancestry of “極めて”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese極めるto carry to extremes, carry to the end
2Japanese極む—
3JapaneseむUsed to indicate a mumbling sound; Used to form...
4Middle Chinese無—
Every word from Middle Chinese 無 →Every word from Japanese む →Every word from Japanese 極む →