懐剣

Japanese
Kanji in this term
懐 剣
かい
Grade: S		 けん
Grade: S
kan’on
Alternative spelling
懷劍 (kyūjitai)
懐剣 (kaiken): a traditional Japanese kaiken or hidden dagger, with a blade of roughly six inches or 15 centimeters.

Etymology

/kwaiken/ → /kaiken/

Appears to be a coinage in Japanese of Middle Chinese-derived roots, as a compound of 懐 (kai, “bosom; the chest area of a kimono above the 帯 (obi, “sash”) and inside the collar”) +‎ 剣 (ken, “sword”). Appears in texts from the 1300s.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

懐(かい)剣(けん) • (kaiken) ←くわいけん (kwaiken)?

  1. (historical) a kind of dagger used by the samurai class, carried in the 懐 (futokoro, “chest area of a kimono above the 帯 (obi, “sash”) and inside the collar”) for self-defense
    Synonyms: 懐刀 (futokoro-gatana), 一尺三寸 (isshaku sanzun)
  2. (modern) a replica dagger as part of certain ceremonial costume, such as the formal wear of boys for the 七五三 (shichi-go-san, “seven-five-three”) festival
    Synonyms: 懐刀 (futokoro-gatana), 一尺三寸 (isshaku sanzun)
  3. (poetry) working on possible response lines for a 連歌 (renga, “linked poem”), 俳諧 (haikai, “amusing style of waka Japanese poetry”), or similar call and response style of performed poetry, prior to a performance; any lines prepared before such a performance

Coordinate terms

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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