Where does “狐の尾” come from?

狐の尾 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 狐, from Japanese 絵筆, from Japanese 筆, from Japanese 文, from Middle Chinese 文.

Ancestry of “狐の尾”, step by step

狐の尾 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesea fox
2Japanese絵筆paintbrush
3Japanesea writing brush, a painting brush, a pen;...
4Japanesethe mon, an old currency; a unit of length for...
5Middle Chinese

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesegenitive case marker; nominative case marker in a...
2Old Japaneseplain, field
3Middle Chinesetalent, ability

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesea tail; the foot of a mountain; the end of...
2Old Japanese
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Japanese Every word from Japanese