Where does “草の根” come from?

草の根 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 根, from Old Japanese 根.

草の根 (Japanese): grass roots

Definitions

  1. grass roots

Ancestry of “草の根”, step by step

草の根 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesea root; the source; the root; nature; the...
2Old Japanese

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanesegrass; a weed; a herb
2Middle Chinese

via English grass roots

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishgrass rootsPeople and society at the local (most basic) level rather than at the national centre of political activity
Every word from Old Japanese Every word from Japanese