köken: 子 (“Chinese scholar; viscount”) + 爵 (“nobility title”). Originally, the fourth highest among the 五等爵 (Gotōshaku, “Five Ranks”) in China under the Zhou dynasty. Used as an equivalent to the concept of the European "viscount" after the Meiji Restoration, during the establishment of a new peerage system called 華族 (Kazoku).
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyk-der. Latin vice Latin vice-lbor. Polish wice- Old Polish grabia Polish hrabia Polish wicehrabia Proto-Indo-European *-iHneh Proto-Balto-Slavic *-īˀnāˀder. Proto-Slavic *-ina Old Polish -ina Polish -ina Polish wicehrabina From wicehrabia + -ina.