ひとしきり

ひ

と

し

き

り

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

adverb, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

for a while; for some time

usually written using kana alone

Describes an action or state continuing for a noticeable but not extremely long period. Often used with verbs like 泣く, 話す, 降る, etc.

彼かの女じょはひとしきり泣ないた後あと、落おち着ついた。
She cried for a while and then calmed down.

雨あめがひとしきり降ふって、すぐに止やんだ。

It rained for a while and soon stopped.

Written forms

ひとしきりUsage94%
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 一頻り and 一しきり are rare and may not be recognized by all readers.
一ひとしきりUsage5%
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; also rare.
一ひと頻しきりUsage1%
Rare kanji spelling; the character 頻 is not commonly used for this word.

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
頻repeatedly, recur

Similar words

しばらく
しばらく is more common and can be used for both 'a little while' and 'for a long time' (with negative), while ひとしきり emphasizes a continuous action over a moderate span.
一いち時じ
一時 means 'temporarily' or 'for a time', often implying a change back, whereas ひとしきり focuses on the duration of an ongoing action.

Etymology

Compound of 一 (hito, 'one') and 頻り (shikiri, 'frequently/repeatedly'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it likely originated from the idea of a single continuous spell of an action.