びた一いち文もん

also: ビタいちもん

び

た

い

ち

も

ん

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

noun

very small amount of money; penny; cent

Used in negative constructions like びた一文もない to mean 'not a single penny'. The word びた comes from 鐚銭 (bitasen), a low-quality coin from the Edo period, so it carries a nuance of something worthless or trivial.

彼かれはびた一いち文もんも持もっていなかった。
He didn't have a penny to his name.
この仕し事ごとではびた一いち文もんも儲もうからない。
I can't make a single cent from this job.

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
文sentence, literature, style
鐚coin of smallest value

Related words

一いち文もん無なし
Also means 'penniless', but 一文無し is a more common and direct expression. びた一文 emphasizes the triviality of the amount, often used in negative sentences.

Written forms

びた一いち文もん
Most common spelling; uses hiragana for びた and kanji for 一文.
ビタ一いち文もん
Katakana variant of びた; sometimes used for emphasis or in informal writing.
鐚びた一いち文もん
Full kanji spelling using the rare character 鐚; mostly seen in historical or literary contexts.
ビタいちもん

Etymology

From びた (鐚, a low-quality coin) + 一文 (one mon, a small unit of currency). The word びた derives from 鐚銭 (bitasen), a debased coin from the Edo period, giving the phrase a connotation of worthlessness.