太刀

Japanese

太刀 (tachi): rear view of a samurai with a tachi slung from his waist.
Kanji in this term
太 刀
た
Grade: 2
ち
Grade: 2
kan’yōon nanori
Alternative spellings
大刀
𫥲

Etymology

/tati/ → /tat͡ɕi/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.[1]

Derived from 断ち (tachi), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 断つ (tatsu, “to sever”).[1][2][3][4]

The kanji spelling is a shift from the original Chinese 大刀 (dàdāo, literally “great blade”), indicating straight swords before the Heian period, and later indicating curved swords.

Pronunciation

Noun

太(た)刀(ち) • (tachi) 

  1. a type of longsword (as opposed to the shorter katana)
    • 720, Nihon Shoki, (poem 20):
      椰句毛多菟(やくもたつ)伊頭毛多鶏流餓(いづもたけるが)波鶏流(はける)多知(たち)菟頭邏佐波磨枳(つづらさはまき)佐微那辞珥(さみなしに)阿波礼(あはれ) [Man'yōgana]
      八(や)雲(くも)立(た)つ出雲(いづも)たけるが佩(は)ける太刀(たち)黒葛(つづら)多(さは)巻(ま)きさ身(み)なしにあはれ [Modern spelling]
      ya kumo tatsu Izumo-takeru ga hakeru tachi tsuzura sawamaki saminashi ni aware
      (please add an English translation of this example)
  2. a sword positioned with the blade facing down when worn (as opposed to the katana, which is worn with the blade facing upward)

Derived terms

Proverbs

See also

Proper noun

太(た)刀(ち) • (Tachi) 

  1. a surname

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
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