Where does “칸막이” come from?

칸막이 (Korean) comes from Korean 칸, from Korean 간, from Chinese 奸.

칸막이 (Korean): partition, divider, room screen

Definitions

  1. partition, divider, room screen

Ancestry of “칸막이”, step by step

칸막이 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Korean 칸

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean칸room, chamber; Synonym of 칸막이; space, blank space
2Korean간for; between; salty seasonings
3Chinese奸—

via Korean 막이

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean막이damming (up), banking (up)
2Korean—이For non-honorific nouns ending in consonants, the nominative case particle marking it as the subject of a verb or adjective; see also Usage Notes
3Middle Korean이person
Every word from Chinese 奸 →Every word from Korean 간 →Every word from Korean 칸 →