What is the origin of 落第?

Question

I see how 落 can be a failure. But how is 第 relevant to failing an exam, is this a meaning other than 'number, -th' or implicitly falling below first place?

Answer 1

I suggest that「落第」is a Chinese loanword. It originally meant failure to be selected as a ranked Imperial bureaucrat due to unsatisfactory results from the Imperial Examinations.

元　曾瑞　《留鞋記》楔子：＂人都道我落第無顏，羞歸鄉里＂

Everyone spoke about me not being selected for Imperial service, and to ashamedly return to my home village

• 「落」means to fall to the ground > fail

• 「第」refers to the grade-ranking result of a candidate's attempt at the Imperial Examinations (「科第」in Chinese)

  北齊　顏之推　《顏氏家訓・勉學》：＂明經求第，則顧人答策。＂

  [Testing] one's thorough knowledge of the classics and to obtain Imperial rank, candidates are invited to answer these questions.

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Reference:

• 《{{kr:漢語}}大詞典》

Answer 2

According to this website about etymologies,

「第」は「第何位」などと用いられるように、一段一段の段階をや物事の順序を意味し、転じて、段階ごとの試験も意味するようになった。

そこから、落第は段階ごとの試験に落ちる意味で「不合格」を表すようになった。

中国では「不合格」の意味で用いられるが、日本では「落第生」と言うように、不合格になることで進級や卒業ができないことも意味する。

Paraphrasing the relevant part about 第: the 第 comes from 第何位 and referred to the stairs in a staircase or the ordering of things. It then evolved to refer to tests that comes in tiers/steps. Then, 落第 would mean to fall down from a step in the sequence of tests.