Where does “駅弁” come from?

駅弁 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 弁当, from Japanese 面筒, from Middle Chinese 面.

駅弁 (Japanese): ekiben

Definitions

  1. ekiben

Ancestry of “駅弁”, step by step

駅弁 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 弁当

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese弁当food brought on the go
2Japanese面筒—
3Middle Chinese面—

via Japanese 駅

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese駅station
2Chinese驛—
Every word from Middle Chinese 面 →Every word from Japanese 面筒 →Every word from Japanese 弁当 →