wood chip; splinter
Small piece or fragment of wood, often a byproduct of cutting or breaking.
床に木っ端が落ちているから気をつけて。
There are wood chips on the floor, so be careful.
大工さんが
worthless thing; worthless person
Used as a prefix or standalone noun to disparage something or someone as trivial, insignificant, or of no value. Often in compounds like 木っ端役人 (petty official).
あんな木っ端役人に何がわかる。
What does a petty official like that know?
The carpenter cleaned up the wood splinters.
彼は自分のことを木っ端だと思っている。
He thinks of himself as a nobody.
petty official; minor bureaucrat
Standard kanji spelling for this word.
Alternate spelling using 片 (piece, fragment).
Alternate spelling using 葉 (leaf), emphasizing thin wood fragments.
Kana spelling for the second part, common in casual writing.
Irregular okurigana usage; normally read きはし or もくたん.
Irregular okurigana usage; normally read もくへん.
Irregular okurigana usage; normally read きのは or もくよう.
Compound of 木 (wood) and 端 (edge, fragment), with the geminate consonant っ inserted for emphasis. The derogatory sense likely developed from the idea of something being a mere scrap.