Where does “약하다” come from?

약하다 (Korean) comes from Korean 약, from Japanese 役, from Middle Chinese 役.

약하다 (Korean): to be weak

Definitions

  1. to be weak

Ancestry of “약하다”, step by step

약하다 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Korean

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Koreandrug; medicine; approximately; about; an ancient...
2Japaneserole, service, use; hand, scoring combination;...
3Middle Chinese

via Korean ―하다

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean―하다

via Korean 약(藥)

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean약(藥)
Every word from Middle Chinese Every word from Japanese Every word from Korean