Where does “英字” come from?

英字 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 字, from Middle Chinese 字 — letter, symbol, character; character.

英字 (Japanese): the English alphabet; a letter of the English...

Definitions

  1. the English alphabet; a letter of the English...

Ancestry of “英字”, step by step

英字 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 字

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese字letter, character; handwriting, penmanship; a...
2Middle Chinese字letter, symbol, character; character

via Japanese 英

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese英United Kingdom; English; England
2Middle Chinese英—

Words derived from “英字”

Every word from Middle Chinese 字 →Every word from Japanese 字 →