Where does “西洋紙魚” come from?

西洋紙魚 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 西洋, from Japanese 化, from Middle Chinese 化.

西洋紙魚 (Japanese): silverfish (Lepisma saccharinum)

Definitions

  1. silverfish (Lepisma saccharinum)

Ancestry of “西洋紙魚”, step by step

西洋紙魚 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 西洋

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese西洋The West, western countries
2Japanese化-ization, -ification; action of making something...
3Middle Chinese化—

via Japanese 紙魚

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese紙魚Any insect of the family Lepismatidae, a silverfish or bristletail
Every word from Middle Chinese 化 →Every word from Japanese 化 →Every word from Japanese 西洋 →