Where does “一文無し” come from?

一文無し (Japanese) comes from Japanese 一, from Japanese 始め, from Japanese 始める — begin; start; initiate; originate.

一文無し (Japanese): pennilessness

Definitions

  1. pennilessness

Ancestry of “一文無し”, step by step

一文無し traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 一

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese一one, 1; "term relating to the number one"; unity
2Japanese始めbeginning, the start of an activity or time...
3Japanese始めるbegin; start; initiate; originate

via Japanese 文

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese文the mon, an old currency; a unit of length for...
2Middle Chinese文—

via Japanese 無し

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese無しnothing
Every word from Japanese 始める →Every word from Japanese 始め →Every word from Japanese 一 →