Where does “nipon” come from?
nipon (Proto-Oceanic) comes from French Nippon, from Japanese 日本, from Japanese 日, from Old Japanese 日, from Proto-Japonic *pi — day, sun.
Ancestry of “nipon”, step by step
nipon traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via French Nippon
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | Nippon | A Japanese man, a male inhabitant of Japan |
| 2 | Japanese | 日本 | {{l|en|Japan}}; Japan |
| 3 | Japanese | 日 | Sunday |
| 4 | Old Japanese | 日 | the sun; sunlight, sunshine; daytime, daylight |
| 5 | Proto-Japonic | *pi | day, sun |
via Spanish nipón
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Spanish | nipón | Nipponese |
via Yoruba ní
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Yoruba | ní | — |
Words derived from “nipon”