食い扶持

• 読み: くいぶち
• ローマ字: kuibuchi
• 漢字の分解: 食 (ku/shoku) — eat, food; 扶 (fu) — support, help; 持 (chi/ji) — hold, maintain
• 発音: /kɯi.bɯ.tɕi/

意味

Living expenses; livelihood; mouths to feed. The cost of feeding and sustaining oneself or one's family; by extension, income sufficient to cover basic living costs.

A colloquial, somewhat old-fashioned expression used to discuss the bare necessities of economic survival. Can refer to the amount one earns to cover basic living costs (食い扶持を稼ぐ) or the number of dependants whose food must be provided (食い扶持が増える). Carries a slightly humble or resigned tone, often evoking the precariousness of livelihood. Common in informal speech, literature, and historical contexts.

例文

1. 食い扶持を稼ぐために、副業として週末にアルバイトを始めた。
2. 家族全員の食い扶持を一人で支え続けるのは、精神的にも体力的にも限界だった。
3. 事業が縮小するにつれ、社員の食い扶持を確保することが経営の最優先課題となった。

使い方ガイド

場面: everyday speech, family finances, employment, historical contexts

トーン: humble, resigned

起源と歴史

Compound of 食い (eating, from 食う kuu — to eat) and 扶持 (stipend, support, provisions — originally a samurai's rice allowance). The term originally described the rice ration sufficient to sustain one person.

文化的背景

時代: Edo–Modern

世代: Adults

社会的背景: Working class/General