Where does “膝小僧” come from?

膝小僧 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 小僧, from Japanese 小, from Old Japanese ささ.

膝小僧 (Japanese): knee

Definitions

  1. knee

Ancestry of “膝小僧”, step by step

膝小僧 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 小僧

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese小僧young/novice Buddhist monk; servant boy in a...
2Japanese小smallness; small size, small; Short for 小の月;...
3Old Japaneseささ—

via Japanese 膝

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese膝knee
2Old Japaneseひざ—
Every word from Old Japanese ささ →Every word from Japanese 小 →Every word from Japanese 小僧 →