Where does “知識人” come from?

知識人 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 人, from Proto-Japonic *pitə — one.

知識人 (Japanese): intellectual

Definitions

  1. intellectual

Ancestry of “知識人”, step by step

知識人 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 人

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese人a person, human; an individual; mankind, people
2Proto-Japonic*pitəone

via Japanese 知識

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese知識knowledge
Every word from Proto-Japonic *pitə →Every word from Japanese 人 →