Where does “縦中横” come from?

縦中横 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 中, from Japanese 中今, from Japanese 今 — now; just now; soon.

縦中横 (Japanese): a block of horizontal type laid out within vertical type lines, usually containing halfwidth characters, especially numbers

Definitions

  1. a block of horizontal type laid out within vertical type lines, usually containing halfwidth characters, especially numbers

Ancestry of “縦中横”, step by step

縦中横 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

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 横

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese横side
2Middle Chinese橫—

via Japanese 縦

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese縦length; height
Every word from Japanese 今 →Every word from Japanese 中 →Every word from Japanese 中今 →