noun
one's whole life; one's lifetime
A literary or formal noun meaning a person's entire life. In modern Japanese it is especially familiar inside fixed expressions such as 一期一会, while 一生 and 生涯 are more ordinary for everyday use.
「一期一会」の一期は、「一生に一度」という意味で使われる。
The 一期 in 一期一会 is used in the sense of "once in a lifetime."
彼は九十年の一期を静かに終えた。
He quietly came to the end of his ninety-year lifetime.
The everyday word for one's whole life; much more common in ordinary speech than 一期 read いちご.
A formal word for a lifetime or for doing something throughout life; less literary-sounding than 一期.
A fixed expression meaning a once-in-a-lifetime meeting or opportunity; it is the context where many learners most often encounter 一期 read いちご.
A Sino-Japanese compound written with 一, "one," and 期, "period" or "term"; for this reading and sense it refers to the single span of a person's life. This is a component explanation rather than a detailed historical origin.