一いち文もん半銭きなか

also: いちもんはんせん

い

ち

も

ん

き

な

か

Meanings

1

noun

paltry sum; trifling amount of money

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

A yojijukugo meaning a very small, almost worthless amount of money. Often used in negative contexts to emphasize poverty or stinginess.

彼かれは一いち文もん半はん銭せんも出だし渋しぶっ

た

。

He grudged even a penny.

一いち文もん半はん銭せんの蓄たくわえもない。

I don't have a single cent saved.

Kanji

一one, one radical (no.1)
文sentence, literature, style
半half, middle, odd number
銭coin, .01 yen, money

Related words

一いっ銭せん
一銭 is a single mon (old currency unit), also used to mean a tiny amount of money, but 一文半銭 is more emphatic and idiomatic.
一いち文もん
一文 is a single mon, often used in phrases like 一文無し (penniless). 一文半銭 intensifies the notion of a meager sum.

Written forms

一文半銭
- いちもんはんせん
  Standard kanji form; the reading いちもんはんせん is the most common.
- いちもんきなか
  Rare reading; the きなか reading is archaic and seldom used in modern Japanese.
いちもんはんせん

Etymology

Compound of 一文 (one mon, a small old coin) and 半銭 (half a sen, another small coin), literally 'one mon and half a sen', emphasizing a very small amount of money.