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一向 (いっこう) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

一いっ向こう

い

っ

こ

う

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

adverb

completely; absolutely; totally

Emphatic adverb, most often in the form 一向に. In affirmative contexts it commonly means that a state is completely so, often with expressions such as 平気だ or 構わない.

See also: 一向に

彼かれはその知しらせを聞きいても一いっ向こうに平へい気きだった。
Even after hearing the news, he was completely unfazed.

2

adverb

not at all; not in the least

Used in negative sentences as 一向に〜ない to stress that something does not happen, change, improve, or matter at all.

薬くすりを飲のんでも熱ねつが一いっ向こうに下さがらない。
Even after taking medicine, my fever does not go down at all.

3

adverb

earnestly; intently; single-mindedly

Less common in modern everyday Japanese. This older or literary adverbial use means directing oneself wholeheartedly toward one thing, rather than the modern negative 一向に〜ない pattern.

仏ぶっ教きょう関かん係けいの古ふるい文ぶん脈みゃくでは、「一いっ向こうに念ねん仏ぶつする」は念ねん仏ぶつに専せん念ねんするという意い味みになる。
In older Buddhist contexts, 一向に念仏する means to devote oneself single-mindedly to chanting the nenbutsu.

4

noun

Jōdo Shinshū; Ikkō sect

abbreviation

Abbreviation of 一向宗, used mainly in historical or religious contexts, especially in terms connected with medieval Jōdo Shinshū groups.

See also: 一向宗

「一いっ向こう一いっ揆き」の一いっ向こうは、一いっ向こう宗しゅうを指さす。
The Ikkō in Ikkō-ikki refers to the Ikkō sect, or Jōdo Shinshū.

Written forms

一いっ向こうUsage67%
Standard kanji spelling. In modern adverbial use it is very often followed by に, as in 一向に.
いっこうUsage33%

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
向yonder, facing, beyond

Similar words

全ぜん然ぜん
Also commonly used with negatives to mean 'not at all'; 全然 is more conversational and has broader modern informal affirmative uses, while 一向に sounds more fixed and somewhat written.
まったく
A broader emphatic adverb meaning 'completely' or 'not at all'; it is less tied to the fixed negative pattern 一向に〜ない.
ひたすら
A common modern word for doing something earnestly or single-mindedly; it corresponds to the older earnest sense of 一向 more naturally in present-day Japanese.
浄じょう土ど真しん宗しゅう
The full religious name. 一向 is only an abbreviation in historical or sect-related contexts.

Etymology

The spelling combines 一, 'one,' and 向, 'direction' or 'orientation.' As a component-based explanation, it suggests being turned wholly in one direction, which fits the older 'single-mindedly' sense and the later emphatic 'completely' uses; the exact historical development is not specified.