Where does “kacang tanah” come from?

kacang tanah (Malay) comes from Malay tanah, from Proto-Malayic *tanah, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tanəq — earth, soil, land.

kacang tanah (Malay): peanut

Definitions

  1. peanut

Ancestry of “kacang tanah”, step by step

kacang tanah traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Malay tanah

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaytanahground; land; earth
2Proto-Malayic*tanahearth; soil
3Proto-Malayo-Polynesian*tanəqearth, soil, land

via Malay kacang

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaykacangred bean; bean; nut
Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tanəq →Every word from Proto-Malayic *tanah →Every word from Malay tanah →