Where does “筋肉” come from?

筋肉 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 肉, from Middle Chinese 肉.

筋肉 (Japanese): muscle

Definitions

  1. muscle

Ancestry of “筋肉”, step by step

筋肉 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesemeat; flesh, as of one's body; meat, the muscle...
2Middle Chinese

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesemuscle; tendon; road
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Japanese