Where does “見る影もない” come from?

見る影もない (Japanese) comes from Japanese 見る, from Japanese 夢, from Old Japanese 夢, from Japanese 目, from Middle Chinese 目.

見る影もない (Japanese): a mere shadow of, a pathetic sight

Definitions

見る影もない traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Japanese	見る	to see, to watch, to observe, to look at...
2	Japanese	夢	a dream; a vision; leaving reality to the state...
3	Old Japanese	夢	a dream
4	Japanese	目	an order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger...
5	Middle Chinese	目	—

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Japanese	も	Used to form the conjectural form of verbs,...
2	Old Japanese	も	non-unique topic marker: also, even
3	Proto-Japonic	mə	non-unique topic marker: also, even, too, as well
4	Arabic	مَن	who?; who

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Japanese	影	light; a shape or form reflected in light; a...
2	Middle Chinese	影	—