Where does “被写体” come from?

被写体 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 体, from Middle Chinese 體.

被写体 (Japanese): subject of a photograph

Definitions

  1. subject of a photograph

Ancestry of “被写体”, step by step

被写体 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseIn general: the body, e.g. of a human or animal;...
2Middle Chinese

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese-ed, -ee; a covering; the act of covering...
2Japanese被うto cover

via Japanese

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Japanese