Where does “白蟻” come from?
白蟻 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 蟻, from Japanese の, from Old Japanese の, from Middle Chinese 能 — talent, ability.
白蟻 (Japanese): a termite; a white ant
Ancestry of “白蟻”, step by step
白蟻 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Japanese 蟻
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 蟻 | ant; an ant, particularly one without wings; an... |
| 2 | Japanese | の | genitive case marker; nominative case marker in a... |
| 3 | Old Japanese | の | plain, field |
| 4 | Middle Chinese | 能 | talent, ability |
via Japanese 白
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 白 | the color white; innocence; a white go stone |
| 2 | Middle Chinese | 白 | — |