Where does “然り” come from?

然り (Japanese) comes from Japanese 有り, from Japanese 有る.

Ancestry of “然り”, step by step

然り traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 有り

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese有りexistence; handling; OK, acceptable
2Japanese有る—

via Japanese 然

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese然indicates a state
2Middle Chinese然—

via Japanese あり

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseあり有り existing; 蟻 ant
Every word from Japanese 有る →Every word from Japanese 有り →