Where does “歯鯨” come from?

歯鯨 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 歯, from Middle Chinese 齒.

歯鯨 (Japanese): toothed whale

Definitions

  1. toothed whale

Ancestry of “歯鯨”, step by step

歯鯨 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 歯

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese歯tooth; age
2Middle Chinese齒—

via Japanese 鯨

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese鯨a whale
2Old Japaneseいさ—
Every word from Middle Chinese 齒 →Every word from Japanese 歯 →