long time

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 久 has three strokes and refers to a long passage or duration of time.
• Basic usage: 久しい is read ひさしい, and 久しぶり is ひさしぶり; both relate to a long interval.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Long since and after a long gap
  • 会わなくなって久しい means that a long time has passed without meeting.
  • 久しぶりに会う means meeting again after not meeting for a while.
• Duration and the gap before resuming
  • 久しぶりに高校時代の友人と食事をした means having a meal with a high school friend for the first time in a while.
  • Here 久しぶり focuses on the interval since the previous meal with that friend. It does not mean that the current meal lasted a long time.
• Long does not necessarily mean forever
  • 永久, read えいきゅう, expresses permanence.
  • The long period in 久しい should not automatically be equated with the endless continuation expressed by 永久.