Where does “非負” come from?

非負 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 非, from Japanese 凡, from Middle Chinese 凡 — ordinary.

非負 (Japanese): non-negative

Definitions

  1. non-negative

Ancestry of “非負”, step by step

非負 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 非

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese非negative prefix: in-, non-, un-
2Japanese凡mediocre, ordinary; mediocrity; dim, faint
3Middle Chinese凡ordinary

via Japanese 負

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese負negativity, being negative
Every word from Middle Chinese 凡 →Every word from Japanese 凡 →Every word from Japanese 非 →