Where does “真夜中” come from?

真夜中 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 夜, from Old Japanese よる, from Proto-Japonic yoru, from Proto-Japonic yo — night.

真夜中 (Japanese): midnight

Definitions

  1. midnight

Ancestry of “真夜中”, step by step

真夜中 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 夜

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese夜night, evening
2Old Japaneseよる—
3Proto-Japonicyorunight
4Proto-Japonicyonight

via Japanese 中

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese中middle, medium; average; neither good nor poor;...
2Japanese中今the present, as a privileged moment in eternity
3Japanese今now; just now; soon

via Japanese 真

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese真truth, reality; truth, reality, genuineness;...
2Chinese似—
Every word from Proto-Japonic yo →Every word from Proto-Japonic yoru →Every word from Old Japanese よる →