一いっ匹ぴき

い

っ

ぴ

き

Common word

Meanings

noun

one small animal

Counter for one small animal, such as a cat, dog, fish, or insect. Used with the reading いっぴき.

Usage patterns

〈物もの〉が一いっ匹ぴきいるthere is one (small animal)
庭にわに猫ねこが一いっ匹ぴきいる。
There is one cat in the yard.
一いっ匹ぴきも〈動どう詞し〉ないnot even a single one (small animal)
池いけには魚さかなが一いっ匹ぴきもいなかった。
There wasn't even a single fish in the pond.

Expressions

猫ねこの子こ一いっ匹ぴきいないcompletely deserted; not a soul in sight
大たい山ざん鳴めい動どうして鼠ねずみ一いっ匹ぴきmuch ado about nothing; great cry and little wool; the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse

Grammar

一人ひとり・二に本ほん・三さん冊さつnumbers and countersN5

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
匹equal, head, counter for small animals
疋head, counter for animals

Don't confuse with

一いっ反たん sense 2
一反 is a bolt of cloth about 10 yards long, while 一匹 (in this sense) is twice that length, about 20 yards, so the two are easily mixed up in textile contexts.

Word family

一いっ匹ぴき狼おおかみ
lone wolf; loner; self-reliant person
男おとこ一いっ匹ぴき
shining example of a man; a real man
絹きぬ一いっ匹ぴき
one roll of silk

Written forms

一いっ匹ぴき
Standard kanji spelling for counting small animals.
１いっ匹ぴき
Numerical variant; common in informal or digital writing.
一いっ疋ぴき
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji form used specifically for counting bolts of cloth.

Etymology

Compound of 一 (いち, 'one') and 匹 (ひき, counter for small animals), with regular rendaku voicing producing いっぴき. The cloth-measure sense uses the rare kanji 疋, historically a variant of 匹 used for counting animals and cloth.