Take the 2-minute tour ×  I found this word today, and I thought
it was pretty interesting. I read it in the context of "becoming
and adult", or "coming of age", but I'd like to know the
etymology of it. I could only find definitions for the word
itself, not its origins. At first blush it looks like "one
person before/ahead", but it also seems like 人前 can mean a
portion of food. "One person's portion of food"? (Perhaps
someone is now big enough to have an adult's portions?)
share|improve this question  1 Answer 1  up vote 7 down vote
accepted  The etymology is itinin + mae. I could say more about
mae, but more likely you are wondering why it means this.  The
key is understanding that -mae is a suffix which means: 1) an
amount or portion suitable for X; sannin-mae: a serving such as
food) suitable for three people 2) emphasises ones attributes or
functionality; otoko-mae "manly", ude-mae "skill, prowess"
Source (seems to be popular lately): Daijirin, Daijisen  In
itinin-mae, the sense is "a person of ability