Where does “科” come from?

科 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 品, from Middle Chinese 品.

科 (Japanese): department, section; family; crime; wrongdoing

Definitions

  1. department, section; family; crime; wrongdoing

Ancestry of “科”, step by step

科 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 品

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese品article, goods; stock; quality
2Middle Chinese品—

via Middle Chinese 科

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Chinese科—

Words derived from “科”

Every word from Middle Chinese 品 →Every word from Japanese 品 →