also: はんじん
noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
Only with reading はんにん
Used with the reading はんにん to describe a person who is incompetent or not pulling their weight. Often appears in phrases like 半人前.
See also: 半人前
彼は仕事ができなくて、半人扱いされている。
He can't do the work and is treated as useless.
noun
half-man; upper body
Refers to the upper half of a person's body, or a representation of a person from the waist up. Often read はんじん.
その彫刻は半人だけが残っている。
Only the upper half of the sculpture remains.
noun
half day
Only with reading はんにん
Archaic term for a half day, especially in a work context. Reading is はんにん.
昔の帳簿には「半人」と書いて半日分の労賃を表した。
In old account books, '半人' was written to indicate half a day's wages.
半人前 is a common word meaning 'half-fledged' or 'not up to standard', while 半人 in sense 1 is a less common, more direct term for a useless person.
Compound of 半 (half) and 人 (person). The exact historical derivation of each sense is uncertain.