Where does “災” come from?

災 (Japanese) comes from Middle Chinese さい, from Japanese 左様, from Japanese 様, from Middle Chinese 樣.

災 (Japanese): an act of God, a disaster, a calamity

Definitions

  1. an act of God, a disaster, a calamity

Ancestry of “災”, step by step

災 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle Chinese さい

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Chineseさい—
2Japanese左様like that
3Japanese様way, style, appearance; be like, look like, seem...
4Middle Chinese樣—

via Chinese 災

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Chinese災calamity
Every word from Middle Chinese 樣 →Every word from Japanese 様 →Every word from Japanese 左様 →