How did the word 革{かわ}, 革{カク} "leather" acheive the meaning "newness"? 広辞苑 lists one of the definitions (under かく) as "あらたまること, あらためること", and we can see this in some of its associated 熟語: 変革, 改革, 革新. Anyone know how this came to be?
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The source for this dual meaning already exists in Chinese. 革 is originally a pictograph of a stretched hide that is turned into leather. As a noun it meant just "leather", but as a verb it also meant "stretching something flabby and making it taut", which then was extended figuratively into "making something old new" and from there "renewal". Thus came all the meanings in compounds such as 革新, 改革 and 革命. See e.g. 広辞苑:
You can also find a similar explanation online in Gogen-Allguide: |
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象形｡ 動物の全身の皮をはぎ､さらしてぴんと広げた形｡たるんだものをぴんと張る意から､あらためる意に用いる。
