一言
ひとこと · hitokoto · JLPT N3 · noun
word
☝️💬 一言 = one (hito) + word (koto); hitokoto is a single word
一 is hito, as in hitori, one person. 言 is koto, the same root as kotoba, word. Together they mean a single word or a brief remark, as in 一言で言うと, to put it in one word.
一 — single horizontal stroke
一 is one of the simplest pictographs in Chinese, depicting a single horizontal line to represent the number one. It has retained essentially the same form since oracle bone script over 3,000 years ago. By extension it also means 'first,' 'whole,' or 'same.'