Where does “霊長目” come from?
霊長目 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 目, from Middle Chinese 目.
Ancestry of “霊長目”, step by step
霊長目 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Japanese 目
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 目 | an order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger... |
| 2 | Middle Chinese | 目 | — |
via Japanese 霊長
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 霊長 | the master of all things, the most powerful of beings, the lord of creation |